HE 

2163 

181  T 

•T4-5 


TEXAS  AND  PACIFIC  RAILWAY. 


SPEECH 


HOKJAS.W.TimOCKMORTON, 


OF 

IN  THE 


HOUSE  OF  REPKESENTATIVES, 

MARCH    1,    1877, 


TOGETHER  WITH   THE 


REPORT  OF  THE  HON.  L.  Q.  C.  LAMAR, 


CHAIRMAN  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  ON  PACIFIC  RAILEOADS, 

MADE  TO  THE  HOUSE  OF  KEPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY  24,  1877. 


1877. 


H  E 


crort  Liorary 


SPEECH 

OP 

HON.  JAMES  W.  THROOKMORTON. 


On  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Kailroad  bill. 

Mr.  THROCKMORTON.  Mr.  Speaker,  before  proceeding  with  the 
views  which  I  desire  to  submit  in  favor  of  the  bill  reported  from  the 
Committee  on  the  Pacific  Railroad  I  wish  to  refer  to  insinuations  con- 
tained in  some  of  the  newspapers  of  this  city,  that  the  action  of 
:f  rieiids  of  the  measure  on  questions  arising  in  the  House  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  presidential  count  has  been  influenced  by  collusion  with 
the  friends  of  the  republican  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  These 
insinuations  have  been  made  in  face  of  the  undeniable  fact  that  some 
of  the  most  ardent  supporters  of  the  count  under  the  electoral  law 
are  uncompromisingly  opposed  to  the  Texas  and  Pacific  bill,  while  on 
the  other  hand  some  of  the  leading  supporters  of  the  measure  are 
most  resolutely  and  persistently  opposing  the  continuance  of  the  count. 
Without  further  observation  I  desire  to  pronounce  such  insinuations, 
from  whatever  quarter  they  may  come,  affecting  the  friends  of  this 
measure  who  are  members  of  this  body,  as  utterly  false  and  atrociously 
;  slanderous. 

Mr.  Speaker,  it  would  scarcely  be  too  much  to  say  that  this  House 
has  had  but  few  measures  before  it  during  the  present  session  of 
greater  importance  to  the  material  interests  of  the  whole  country  than 
the  one  which  I  propose  to  discuss. 

Whether  viewed  as  a  measure  for  the  especial  benefit  of  that  sec- 
tion of  the  Union,  the  industries  and  commerce  of  which  are  still  pros- 
trate from  the  effects  of  a  long  and  desolating  civil  war,  or  as  a  meas- 
ure for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  country,  its  importance  cannot  but 
command  the  serious  attention  of  every  member  of  this  body. 

The  restoration  to  prosperity  of  a  large  and  important  section  of 
our  country  can  scarcely  be  a  matter  of  indifference  even  to  the  most 
sectional  and  selfish ;  for  whatever  may  be  the  political  differences 
and  social  antipathies  between  the  people  of  the  different  sections  of 
the  Union,  we  are  so  closely  connected  in  our  business  relations  that 
the  prostration  of  the  industries  and  trade  of  one  important  part  of 
the  country  cannot  but  injuriously  affect  the  well-being  of  the  whole. 

You  cannot  desolate  Louisiana  and  South  Carolina  without  the 
people  of  New  York  and  Massachusetts  sympathizing,  perhaps  as 
fellow-citizens  of  the  same  great  Republic,  certainly  as  fellow-suffer- 
ers from  a  common  calamity. 

Upon  a  prosperous  South  and  West  depend  a  prosperous  North  and 
East.  Let  the  cotton  and  sugar  fields  of  the  South  no  longer  yield 
support  to  the  cultivators  of  the  soil  and  tens  of  thousands  of  toilers 
,in  northern  manufacturies  will  go  home  to  cheerless  hearthstones. 


Let  the  South  cease  to  produce  that  which  her  people  can  exchange 
for  the  manufactured  fabrics  of  the  North  and  East  and  both  sec- 
tions will  be  alike  injured.  Let  a  blight  fall  upon  the  grain  fields  of 
the  great  Northwest  and  California,  or  the  mines  of  Colorado  and 
Nevada  cease  to  yield  the  precious  metals,  or  let  their  products  be 
cut  off  from  the  markets  for  want  of  the  means  of  transportation  t 
and  the  whole  money  system  of  the  country  feels  the  shock,  and 
bankers  and  capitalists  and  merchants  with  their  millions  go  down 
with  a  crash  that  spreads  ruin  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  land. 

The  lesson  thus  taught  proves  that  no  considerable  section  of  thi» 
great  country  can  long  enjoy  a  high  degree  of  prosperity  while  any 
other  important  section  languishes  in  poverty. 

I  know  of  no  effort  of  statesmanship  better  calculated  to  restore 
prosperity  to  the  entire  country  than  to  build  up  the  waste  places  in 
the  South,  and  give  to  her  the  prosperity  which  she  once  enjoyed 
and  which  she  still  deserves.  In  my  judgment  there  is  no  measure 
we  can  consider  that  will  more  effectually  secure  that  prosperity  than, 
the  one  under  consideration. 

Give  the  South  just  laws,  treat  her  as  an  equal  of  the  North,  of  the 
East,  and  West ;  let  her  have  a  fair  proportion  of  the  protection,  the 
benefits  and  bounties  conferred  by  the  Government,  and  the  result 
will  be  that  the  renewed  life  and  vigor  thus  given  will  add  ten  fold 
to  her  production,  ten-fold  to  her  consumption  of  northern  fabrics 
and  western  produce ;  the  wealth  of  the  nation  will  be  greatly  in- 
creased, a  new  era  of  prosperity  will  begin,  and  the  balance  of  trade 
will  turn  in  our  favor. 

The  bill  reported  by  the  Committee  on  the  Pacific  Railroad,  grant- 
ing Government  credit  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  a  southern  trans- 
continental railway,  has  been  printed  and  laid  on  each  member's 
desk  ;  and  I  trust  that  members  will  give  its  provisions  careful  con- 
sideration and  not  permit  themselves  to  be  influenced  in  their  judg- 
ment of  its  merits  by  prejudice  or  preconceived  ideas,  inculcated  by 
newspapers  that  have  made  war  on  the  measure  without  understand- 
ing its  scope  or  intention,  or  by  rival  interests  that  are  determined 
there  shall  be  no  southern  line  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  very  able  and  interesting  report  of  the  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee presents  so  strongly  and  clearly  the  main  features  of  the  meas- 
ure that  I  deem  it  unnecessary  to  weary  the  patience  of  the  House 
by  a  recapitulation  of  them.  But,  sir,  before  proceeding  with  my 
argument,  I  cannot  forbear  referring  to  some  of  the  objections  that 
have  been  urged  to  the  proposition  submitted  by  the  committee,  and 
I  earnestly  invoke  the  attention  of  my  southern  friends,  and  those 
of  the  North  who  may  be  disposed  to  lend  us  a  helping  hand,  to  the 
answer  I  shall  make  to  these  objections. 

Mr.  Speaker,!  have  been  surprised  and  astonished  to  hear  the  charge 
made  that  the  measure  as  presented  in  this  bill  is  not  for  the  benefit 
of  the  South,  but  that  its  object  is  to  build  up  the  interests  of  north- 
ern commerce.  Nothing  more  absolutely  untrue  could  be  stated.  This 
not  a  southern  measure,  with  already  two  completed  connections 
with  Galveston,  and  the  third  under  construction  ;  with  branches  to 
New  Orleans,Vicksburgh,  and  Memphis  ;  these  branches  and  connec- 
tions to  enjoy  all  the  advantages  of  freights  and  fares  possessed  by 
the  main  line !  This  not  a  measure  for  the  benefit  of  the  South,  when 
eight  hundred  miles  of  its  main  line  and  three  hundred  miles  of  its 
"transcontinental  branch"  lie  in  Texas,  and  six  hundred  and  ninety- 
three  miles  of  the  branches  traverse  Arkansas  and  Louisiana,  making. 


5 

a  grand  total  of  seventeen  hundred  and  ninety-three  miles  of  railway 
constructed  or  to  be  constructed  within  these  three  great  cotton-pro- 
ducing States,  and  which  will  when  completed  connect  with  the  en- 
tire railroad  system  throughout  the  South ! 

But,  sir,  this  charge  is  made  because  of  the  Vinita  connection  with 
Saint  Louis.  It  originates  in  a  quarter  that  never  has  been  friendly 
to  southern  interests,  and  I  regret  that  some  southern  gentlemen 
have  been  led  astray  by  it.  The  representatives  of  the  various  inter- 
ests opposed  to  the  construction  of  a  southern  transcontinental  line 
have  been  the  circulators  of  this  absurd  charge.  Now,  sir,  let  us  see 
what  foundation  there  is  for  such  a  statement.  Of  course,  transcon- 
tinental commerce  would  avail  itself  of  the  Vinita  branch,  but  only 
such  of  it  as  would  be  best  accommodated  by  taking  the  route  to  and 
from  Saint  Louis.  That  city  has  already  two  connections  with  the 
main  line,  one  at  Sherman  and  the  other  at  Texarkana ;  so  that  any 
one  can  see  that  should  the  Vinita  branch  never  be  constructed  it 
would  require  a  run  of  only  a  few  hours  longer  to  reach  Saint  Louis. 

Again,  sir,  does  not  every  man  of  ordinary  intelligence  comprehend 
that  commerce  has  her  own  laws,  and  that  trade  and  travel  invaria- 
bly use  the  shortest  and  least  expensive  available  routes?  Without 
the  Vinita  branch  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  northern  trade  would 
avail  itself  of  the  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas  Railway  from  Sher- 
man, Texas,  to  Saint  Louis,  and  of  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad  from 
Texarkana.  But  would  it  be  just  to  force  this  trade  and  travel  over 
the  longer  line,  when  no  interest  could  be  subserved  except  that  of 
the  railroad  companies  transporting  it?  No  southern  city  or  port 
could  reap  the  slightest  benefit  by  forcing  such  commerce  out  of  its 
most  direct  line.  It  is  the  object  of  this  measure  to  lessen  the  bur- 
dens of  commerce.  The  supposition  that  the  owners  and  managers 
of  eleven  or  twelve  hundred  miles  of  railway  in  Texas  would,  con- 
trary to  their  own  interest,  turn  transcontinental  traffic  away  from 
their  own  line  for  the  benefit  of  the  Vinita  branch  and  Saint  Louis,  is 
too  monstrous  to  be  treated  otherwise  than  with  derision.  Hence,  the 
assertion  that  the  .Vinita  branch  robs  this  measure  of  its  claim  to 
southern,  favor  is  a  fallacy  too  absurd  for  patient  or  respectful  con- 
sideration. 

But  there  are  other  considerations,  in  connection  with  the  Vinita 
branch,  that  ought  not  to  be  forgotten.  It  should  be  remembered 
that  Congress  has  passed  laws  to  encourage,  by  donations  of  lands, 
a  road  from  the  northern  lakes  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  with  a  right  to 
branches,  with  a  land  grant  of  45,000,000  acres.  It  has  also  endowed 
the  Union  and  Central  Pacific,  and  their  numerous  branches,  with 
land  grants  of  more  than  fifty  million  acres,  and  with  more  than 
$53,000,000  in  bonds.  It  has  also  bestowed  -upon  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  Railroad  Company  42,000,000  acres  of  land  to  aid  in  the  con- 
struction of  a  road  on  the  thirty-fifth  parallel,  and  granted  lands  to 
the  amount  of  18,000,000  acres  to  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway  Com- 
pany. These  several  acts  were  passed  in  the  interest  of  the  various 
sections  of  our  widely  extended  country,  and  were  thought  to  be  just 
to  the  extreme  north,  to  the  extreme  south,  and  to  the  poople  inter- 
ested in  the  intermediate  lines  of  the  thirty-fifth  and  fortieth  parallels 
respectively.  So  that  we  find  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific,  or  the  thirty- 
fifth  parallel  route,  by  the  provisions  of  the  bill  under  considera- 
tion, surrenders  its  claim  to  more  than  forty-one  millions  of  acres  of 
land,  as  the  consideration  for  a  Government' guarantee  of  the  interest 
upon  the  cost  of  constructing  three  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  of 
railway ;  a  line,  for  its  length,  of  more  importance  to  the  Govern- 


ment  than  any  other  on  the  continent,  and  a  line  of  more  value  to* 
Texas  than  any  of  the  other  branches.  Its  construction  would  give 
peace  to  her  northern  border  and  render  valuable  her  multiplied  mill- 
ions of  acres  of  land  that  have  been  dedicated  to  her  common  schools, 
and  populate  a  portion  of  her  territory,  now  entirely  uninhabited, 
larger  than  the  State  of  New  York  ;  besides  affording  the  shortest 
and  nearest  route  to  northern  markets  for  the  beef-cattle  that  will  be 
produced  on  her  western  plains. 

Then,  sir,  in  the  interest  of  the  whole  country,  in  the  interest  of 
the  Government,  and  especially  as  a  representative  from  Texas,  in 
her  interest,  do  I  favor  this  Vinita  branch.  I  regret  that  there  is  riot 
provided  for  in  this  bill  a  shorter  and  more  direct  connection  with 
Galvestou,  which  was  attempted  to  be  secured  in  committee,  and 
which  I  still  hope  to  see  adopted  by  the  House.  But  if  I  should  be 
disappointed  in  this  reasonable  and  just  expectation,  I  cannot  afford 
to  do  my  section  and  my  State,  as  well  as  the  whole  country,  an  incal- 
culable wrong  and  injury  by  opposing  the  main  proposition.  We  of 
Texas  are  not  selfish  with  regard  to  this  measure,  and  would  be  con- 
tent with  the  main  line  without  the  branches.  But  how  can  we  deny 
the  reasonable  demands  of  commerce  and  our  southern  neighbors  for 
the  outlets  provided  for  in  this  bill  ? 

Who  is  there,  acquainted  with  the  facts,  that  does  not  know  that 
with  our  present  railroads  and  water  connections  the  trade  and 
production  of  Texas  alone  are  unable  to  be  accommodated  ?  For 
many  weeks  during  the  present  season,  with  our  outlets  to  Galvestou 
and  other  Gulf  ports  by  several  lines  of  railway,  to  New  Orleans  by 
Eed  Eiver,  to  Memphis,  and  Saint  Louis  by  the  Iron  Mountain  and  the 
Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas  Eailroads,  our  products  have  been  kept 
from  market  and  return  freights  delayed  in  like  manner.  What 
would  the  condition  be,  with  a  through  line  to  the  Pacific,  with  the 
vast  increase  of  population  and  production  which  would  be  superin- 
duced by  such  a  work  ?  How  extremely  unstatesmanlike,  then,  would 
it  be  to  arrest  that  commerce  while  waiting  for  the  uncertain  navi- 
gation of  Ked  River,  or  make  it  dependent  upon  the  unregulated  rates 
imposed  by  the  Texas  Central,  the  Iron  Mountain,  and  the  Missouri, 
Kansas  and  Texas  Railroads,  which  are  now  unable  to  do  the  local 
traffic.  These  considerations  are  so  important  that  none  who  weigh 
them  can  fail  to  appreciate  their  force.  To  my  mind,  at  least,  they 
present  a  complete  justification  for  the  cordial  support  I  shall  give  to 
all  the  branches. 

Having  answered  these  objections,  I  proceed  at  once  to  the  consid- 
eration of  the  bill,  and  inquire — 

Is  there  a  necessity  for  this  action  on  the  part  of  Congress  ?  To- 
sh ow  that  such  necessity  exists  it  is  only  necessary  to  state  a  few 
facts  so  apparent,  when  mentioned,  as  to  fasten  conviction  upon  the 
most  casual  observer. 

First.  The  Viuita  branch  traverses  the  whole  extent  of  the  Indian 
Territory  from  its  northeast  to  its  southwest  corner.  In  this  Terri- 
tory are  situated  large  numbers  of  Indians  for  which  you  have  re- 
cently appropriated  large  sums  for  transportation  alone. 

Second.  The  main  line  traverses  nearly  a  thousand  miles  of  the  most 
exposed  portions  of  the  frontiers  of  Texas,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona, 
now  infested  by  the  most  treacherous  of  all  the  Indian  tribes,  and 
least  accessible  to  the  operations  of  the  Army,  and  in  a  region,  where 
more'depredations  have  been  committed  by  the  Indians  during  the 
last  ten  years,  than  in  all  the  other  Territories  and  borders  of  the  Gov- 
ernment combined. 

Third.  Along  the  line  of  the  proposed  road  and  tributary  to  it,  the- 


Government  for  years  past  has  maintained  more  than  forty  military 
posts,  garrisoned  by  nearly  one-half  of  the  entire  Army,  where  sup- 
plies for  both  Indians  and  troops  have  to  be  transported  long  distances, 
at  great  cost  and  much  risk,  by  wagons. 

Fourth.  One  thousand  miles  of  the  line  runs  directly  along  and 
near  to  the  territory  of  a  foreign  government,  whose  people  are  con- 
stantly depredating  upon  the  citizens  and  the  property  of  the  citi- 
zens of  this  Government. 

Fifth.  We  have  the  very  best  military  authority  indorsing  the  con- 
struction of  a  transcontinental  railroad  as  among  the  surest  and 
best  means  of  settling  our  Indian  troubles. 

Sixth.  Outside  of  these  considerations,  if  a  necessity  exists  for  the 
Government  each  succeeding  year  to  make  large  appropriations  to 
clean  out  rivers,  improve  harbors,  and  erect  light-houses  for  the  bene- 
fit of  trade  and  commerce  between  the  States  and  with  foreign  coun- 
tries, is  there  not  a  like  necessity  to  do  something  for  the  transcon- 
tinental commerce  of  the  nation,  the  inland  commerce  between  the 
States  of  the  Pacific  and  Atlantic  coasts,  and  the  trade  and  com- 
merce of  the  Territories  of  the  Government  ? 

Because  some  of  the  States  and  Territories  have  no  harbors  and  no 
navigable  streams,  although  they  have  immense  productions  for  ex- 
port and  for  exchange  with  other  States  and  great  demand  for  the 
fabrics  and  products  of  sister- States,  are  they  to  be  denied  the  pro- 
tecting care  and  support  of  the  Government  ? 

Look  at  Texas,  larger  than  the  States  of  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
Ohio,  West  Virginia,  and  Maryland,  with  an  extent  and  fertility  of 
soil  capable  of  producing  (without  interfering  with  her  large  pro- 
duction of  wheat,  barley,  oats,  corn,  sugar,  mules,  horses,  cattle,  and 
sheep)  more  cotton,  if  she  had  the  labor  and  transportation  to  get  it 
to  market,  than  is  produced  in  all  other  countries  to-day.  Is  she  to 
be  taxed  to  aid  in  clearing  out  the  Mississippi,  the  Ohio,  the  Missouri, 
and  other  streams,  and  to  pay  principal  and  interest  on  the  Union 
Pacific  and  California  Central  and  other  railroad  bonds  because  she 
has  no  navigable  waters  to  which  you  can  make  annual  appropria- 
tions ?  Are  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  and  Nevada  and  Utah  to  be 
denied  all  aid  from  the  Government  to  foster  and  promote  their  com- 
merce because  they  have  been  denied  by  nature  navigable  rivers  ?  Is 
the  commerce  of  China  and  Japan,  of  the  Indies  and  Australia,  that 
desires  to  seek  transit  across  our  territory  to  our  own  ports  or  to 
Europe,  and  the  trade  of  our  own  States  and  Territories  to  be  forever 
subject  to  the  exactions  of  one  great  monopoly,  over  wlr'eh  Congress 
seems  to  have  no  control ;  or  shall  American  statesmans  .iip  strike  off 
the  galling  shackles  that  now  fetter  it,  by  passing  this  measure  and 
give  to  this  great  and  growing  commerce  an  open  highway  over 
which  Congress  may  at  all  times  exercise  an  undisputed  and  healthy 
ontrol  ? 

Then,  sir,  may  I  not  insist  that,  in  a  military  point  of  view,  there 
is  a  necessity  for  this  work  ? 

As  the  speediest  solution  of  the  Indian  troubles  is  there  not  a 
necessity  for  it  ? 

As  a  measure  of  economy  in -the  transportation  of  troops,  muni- 
tions, and  supplies  to  the  Army  and  the  Indians,  is  it  not  an  absolute 
want? 

For  the  speedy  and  safe  transmission  of  your  mails,  is  it  not  de- 
manded ? 

Do  not  the  protection  and  promotion  of  commerce  between  the 
States  and  in  the  Territories  and  between  our  ports  and  the  ports  of 
foreign  governments  both  justify  and  require  it  ? 


8 

Having  thus  shown  the  necessity  for  the  work,  the  next  question 
that  naturally  presents  itself  to  the  mind  is  as  to  sufficiency  of  the 
security  to  the  Government  for  the  liabilities  it  will  assume  should 
this  bill  become  a  law.  If  it  cannot  be  established  that  this  security 
is  ample  beyond  any  possible  contingency,  I  should  be  as  far  from 
according  it  my  support  as  any  gentleman  on  this  floor.  I  ask  your 
special  attention  to  this  branch  of  the  subject,  for  herein,  so  far  as 
the  claim  for  governmental  aid  is  concerned,  in  my  judgment,  lies 
the  gist  of  the  whole  subject ;  for  whatever  may  be  shown  to  be  the 
advantages  the  construction  of  the  proposed  railroads  might  confer 
on  the  people  of  the  country;  whatever  may  be  the  abstract  justice 
of  the  demands  of  the  South  for  an  equal  share  in  the  benefactions  of 
the  General  Government,  in  aid  of  great  works  of  internal  improve- 
ment, a  due  regard  for  the  obligations  we  owe  the  people  to  husband 
the  resources  of  the  Government  wisely  and  prudently  would  de- 
mand that  this  bill  should  be  rejected  if  it  cannot  be  clearly  shown 
that  the  security  offered  is  ample  to  protect  the  Government  against 
the  possibility  of  loss. 

The  entire  length  of  the  proposed  road  upon  which  interest-guar- 
anteed bonds  are  asked  will  be  as  follows :  Main,  or  trunk  line,  from 
Fort  Worth  to  Fort  Yuma,  1,187  miles;  from  near  San  Gorgonio  Pass 
to  San  Diego,  100  miles;  the  eastern  extension  to  New  Orleans,  Vicks- 
burgh,  Memphis,  and  Saint  Louis,  1,018  miles.  Upon  these  different 
sections  bonds  are  to  be  issued  for  the  purpose  of  construction,  only 
for  the  actual  cost  of  the  work,  but  not  to  exceed  $35,000  per  mile  for 
the  trunk  or  main  line  ;  $30,000  per  mile  for  the  San  Diego  connec- 
tion, and  $25,000  per  mile  for  the  eastern  extensions  to  the  Mississippi. 
From  this  it  results  that  the  whole  issue  for  the  purposes  of  con- 
struction would  be  $41,545,000  for  the  main  line,  $3,000,000  for  the 
San  Diego  connection,  and  $25,450,000  for  the  eastern  extensions ; 
making  a  total  of  $69,995,000,  the  interest  upon  which,  at  5  per  cent., 
would  amount  to  $3,499,750  per  annum,  or  $1,750,  $1,500,  and  $1,250 
per  mile  on  the  respective  roads.  But  if  you  assume  that  the  $5,000 
per  mile  additional  issue,  authorized  by  the  bill,  should  be  included 
in  this  estimate,  the  total  of  bonds  would  be  $81,520,000,  upon 
•which  the  annual  interest  would  be  $4,077,000.  But  as  the  Govern- 
ment holds  these  additional  bonds  merely  as  a  further  security,  of 
course,  they  draw  no  interest  until  sold  by  the  Government,  after  the 
other  securities  have  proved  to  be  insufficient  to  meet  the  interest 
obligations  of  the  companies.  I  shall  show,  I  hope  conclusively, 
that  tire  pther  securities  are  sufficiently  ample  to  meet  these  obliga- 
tions, audL  consequently  that  these  bonds  will  never  draw  interest  or 
become  «i  liability  to  the  Government. 

Now,  sir,  what  security  is  offered  for  the  Government's  guarantee 
and  liability  ?  In  reply,  I  answer — 

First.  It  will  hold  a  first  mortgage,  as  the  roads  are  constructed, 
on  the  roads,  equipment,  and  all  the  property  of  the  companies. 

Second.  The  Government  is  to  receive  and  retain  the  entire  pro- 
ceeds of  the  sales  of  lands  of  the  companies  granted  by  the  General 
Government  and  so  much  of  the  laud  granted  by  the  State  of  Texas 
as  is  given  for  the  road  to  be  constructed  west  of  Fort  Worth,  say 
about  7,500,000  acres. 

Third.  The  Government  is  to  retain  in  the  Treasury  all  dues  to  the 
companies  for  the  transportation  of  troops,  munitions,  supplies,  &c., 
and  for  postal  and  telegraph  service. 

Fourth.  Such  part  of  the  earnings  of  the  road  from  general  traffic 
.as  may  be  necessary  to  meet  interest  and  sinking  fund. 

Fifth.  There  are  also  to  be  retained  in  the  Treasury  bonds  of  the 


companies  to  the  amount  of  $5,000  per  mile,  to  be  sold  and  the  pro- 
ceeds applied  to  the  payment  of  any  current  interest  or  sinking  f  uiid 
the  companies  may  have  failed  to  provide  for. 

These  securities  are  so  ample,  to  protect  the  Government  against 
loss,  that  the  mere  enumeration  of  them  would  seem  sufficient  to  re- 
lieve the  most  skeptical  mind  from  doubt ;  but,  I  beg  the  attention  of 
the  House  for  a  few  moments,  during  which  I  shall  endeavor  to  show 
beyond  question  their  entire  sufficiency. 

As  to  the  first  security,  can  any  one  doubt  that  a  railroad  property 
costing  twenty-five,  thirty,  or  thirty-five  thousand  dollars  per  mile, 
and  the  real  value  of  which  is  equal  to  the  cost,  is  not  sufficient  to 
secure  a  liability  of  twelve  hundred  and  fifty,  fifteen  hundred,  or 
seventeen  hundred  and  fifty,  or  even  two  thousand  dollars  per  mile  ? 
More  especially  is  it  to  be  considered  that  these  proposed  railroad  lines 
pass  through  sections  of  country  of  the  most  favored  climate  and  fer- 
tility of  soil,  capable  of  producing  the  very  largest  crops  of  cotton, 
the  cereals,  tobacco,  fruits,  and  vegetables,  and  abundantly  able  to 
sustain  a  population  more  dense  than  now  inhabits  the  New  England 
States. 

Such  is  the  country  through  which  the  extensions  pass  in  Arkansas, 
Louisiana,  the  Indian  Territory,  and  for  four  hundred  miles  of  the 
main  line  from  Texarkauna  via  Marshall  to  the  Colorado  Eiver  of 
Texas.  The  remainder  of  the  main  line  in  Texas  will  pass  through 
the  finest  natural  pasturage  in  the  whole  country,  where  the  buffalo 
in  all  time  past,  in  countless  numbers  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  and 
northern  plains,  have  resorted  in  winter  to  subsist. 

When  the  Indians  cease  to  depredate  in  that  section  it  will  be  in- 
deed what  it  is  now  fast  becoming,  the  great  beef-producing  region 
of  this  continent.  Its  outlet  to  the  markets  of  southern  cities,  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi,  and  to  the  cities  of  the  North  and  East, 
with  such  speedy  transportation  as  to  prevent  its  deterioration,  will 
be  over  the  Vinita  branch,  main  line,  and  eastern  extensions,  thus 
affording  the  best  and  cheapest  meat,  for  the  consumption  of  the  rich 
and  poor,  that  the  country  can  produce. 

In  proof  of  the  value  of  railroad  property  in  Texas,  where  we  have 
scarcely  a  navigable  stream,  I  need  only  refer  you  to  the  following- 
table,  showing  Galveston  to  be  the  second  largest  cotton-receiving 
city  in  the  United  States,  second  only  to  New  Orleans,  outstripping 
Savannah  and  largely  ahead  of  Charleston  and  Norfolk. 

RECEIPTS  AT  ALL  UNITED  STATES  PORTS. 


Ports. 

This 
day. 

This 
week. 

This 
season. 

Galveston  

Bales. 
1  648 

Sales. 
7  505 

Sales. 
445  879 

New  Orleans  

12  503 

48  841 

949  314 

Mobile  

'376 

8  ^88 

Savannah  

533 

3  868 

Charleston  

869 

5  060 

406  635 

Wilmington  

87 

1  414 

88  415 

Norfolk  

2  277 

12  596 

Baltimore  

165 

11  653 

New  York  

524 

4  131 

156  313 

Boston  

1  081 

5  §54 

68  645 

Philadelphia  

>068 

2*  317 

Providence  

9  °85 

Citv  Point  

Port  Royal  

Indianola  

Total  

20  086 

100  139 

3  413  370 

Last  year  

is'  474 

92  338 

10 

This  table  is  taken  from  the  Galveston  News,  a  reliable  and  accu- 
rate journal,  and  is  made  out  for  the  present  season,  up  to  a  recent 
date  in  the  last  month.  It  does  not  show  the  amount  of  cotton 
shipped  from  Brownsville,  Corpus  Christi,  Matagorda  Bay,  the  mouths- 
of  the  Brazos  and  Sabine  Rivers,  or  direct  from  Houston,  from  Shreve- 
port,  from  Jefferson ;  or  that  which  finds  its  way  north  and  to  Mem- 
phis via  Texarkana,  where  but  recently  50,000  bales  were  passed  from 
the  Texas  Pacific  to  the  Iron  Mountain  Road  in  the  space  of  twenty 
days ;  nor  from  Deuison,  where  an  equal,  if  not  greater,  amount 
finds  its  outlet  to  the  North  and  East.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  this  sea- 
son's cotton  product  in  Texas  will  foot  up  from  650,000  to  700,000 
bales,  worth  at  the  moderate  price  of  $50  per  bale,  from  $32,000,000 
to  $35,000,000.  What  will  it  be  in  ten  years,  when  our  present  popu- 
lation shall  be  doubled  and  we  have  cheap  and  speedy  transportation 
for  our  products  to  the  markets  of  the  world  ? 

As  a  further  evidence  of  the  value  of  the  railroad  properties  pro- 
posed to  be  encouraged  and  given  as  a  security  to  the  Government 
by  this  bill,  it  may  be  stated  that  since  the  war  there  has  been  an 
average  of  about  four  hundred  thousand  head  of  cattle  driven  and 
shipped  from  the  State.  With  the  extension  of  the  main  trunk  and 
Vinita  branch  to  the  northern  and  western  plains  of  Texas,  this 
profitable  traffic  would  inure  very  largely  to  these  lines. 

But  to  give  positive  proof  as  to  the  earnings  of  railroads  in  Texas, 
I  submit  the  showing  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific  earnings  upon  three 
hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  of  constructed  road,  which  for  the 
year  ending  June  30,  1876,  are  as  follows : 

RECEIPTS. 

Transportation .$1,540,418  82 

Express  service 12,  592  99 

Mailservice 30,794  74 

Telegraph  service 8,491  11 

Incidental 2, 858  44 

Total  receipts 1,595,156  10 

EXPENSES. 

Transportation 539,026  51 

Maintenance 310,  344  76 

General  expenses 45,  323  17 


Total  expenses 894,694  44 

leaving  net  earnings,  $700,461.66. 

I  also  submit  the  following  statement  as  to  the  Houston  and  Texas 
Central  Railroad  Company,  on  a  constructed  line  of  five  hundred  and 
five  miles  of  road  : 

Gross  earnings,  $6,262  per  mile $3, 162,  518  22 

Expenses,  59.60  per  cent 1,885,196  89 

Net  earnings,  $2,529  per  mile 1,277,321  33 

As  compared  with  1875,  the  net  earnings  show  an  increase  of 
$133,395.68,  or  11.7  per  cent.  The  interest  on  the  bonded  debt  was 
$950,000,  leaving  a  surplus  of  $327,321.33.  During  the  year  the  com- 
pany changed  the  gauge  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  of  the 
main  line  from  5  feet  6  inches  to  4  feet  8$  inches,  and  added  eight  en- 
gines and  two  hundred  freight-cars  to  the  equipment.  The  net  earn- 
ings of  four  hundred  and  forty-two  miles  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific 
road  for  the  six  months  ending  January  1,  1877,  were  at  the  average 
rate  of  $85,000  per  month  or  at  the  annual  rate  of  $2,307  per  mile. 

And  still  further,  to  prove  that  the  investment  for  the  construction 
of  these  lines  would  be  a  profitable  one,  and  that  the  Government 


Bancroft  Library 
11 

would  be  secured,  I  mention  the  fact  that  thirty-th^ee  counties  in- 
the  State  of  Texas,  averaging  largely  more  than  nine  hundred  square 
miles  to  the  county,  and  all  that  portion  of  the  State  west  of  the  one 
hundredth  meridian,  and  extending  from  the  Rio  Grande  north  to 
the  Kansas  boundary,  would  be  almost  entirely  dependent  upon  the 
Texas  and  Pacific  and  the  Vinita  branch  for  commercial  facilities. 
It  is  worthy  of  consideration  that  these  thirty-three  counties  are 
among  the  most  inviting  for  settlement  and  production  of  any  in  our 
whole  State.  It  is  not  going  beyond  the  truth  to  assert  that  for  beauty 
of  scenery  of  mountain,  hill,  and  dale ;  crystal  flowing  waters,  beauti- 
ful valleys,  and  broad  rolling  plains,  the  country  alluded  to  has  no- 
superior  on  this  continent.  It  is  within  the  bounds  of  truth  to  say 
that  two-thirds  of  the  soil  is  of  the  richest  and  most  productive  char- 
acter, easily  brought  into  cultivation,  and  which,  if  properly  culti- 
vated in  cotton,  at  an  average  yield  of  a  half  bale  per  acre  would  pro- 
duce 6,336,000  bales  per  annum,  being  1,776,000  bales  more  than  the 
entire  crop  of  the  United  States  for  1875  and  1876.  Or  if  the  same 
amount  of  laud  was  cultivated  in  wheat,  with  an  average  yield  of 
fifteen  bushels  per  acre — a  moderate  estimate  for  that  region — we 
should  have  the  enormous  amount  of  190,030,000  bushels  per  annum ; 
which,  at  the  rate  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  bushels  to  the  car,  and 
twenty  cars  to  the  train,  and  twenty-four  trains  a  day,  would  require 
eleven  hundred  and  thirty  days  and  nights  to  transport  the  crop  of  a 
single  year  to  market. 

Or,  if  cultivated  in  cotton  alone,  making  the  same  calculation  of 
the  same  number  of  cars  to  the  train,  and  one  train  for  every  hour  of 
the  day  and  night,  it  would  require  three  hundred  and  twenty-four 
days  and  eight  hours  to  move  such  a  crop  to  market.  In  other  words r 
it  would  require  over  three  years  to  move  one  season's  wheat  crop, 
and  nearly  one  year  to  move  the  cotton  crop. 

This,  sir,  is  no  fanciful  picture.  To  make  it  a  reality  all  that  is 
requisite  is  such  a  population  as  the  country  described  can  easily 
support,  and  the  means  of  transportation  for  its  products. 

As  a  matter  of  course,  it  would  not  be  desirable  to  cultivate  so 
much  soil  in  any  one  crop,  nor  would  it  be  done  ;  but  this  presenta- 
tion will  show  the  capacity  of  the  country  for  production,  and  its 
cultivation  in  a  variety  of  crops  would  yield  the  same  results  as  to 
freight  for  transportation. 

This  embraces  no  account  of  the  agricultural  products,  live  stock, 
or  other  traffic  to  be  furnished  by  the  great  area  of  territory,  at  least 
one  hundred  thousand  square  miles  in  extent,  west  of  the  one  hun- 
dredth meridian  and  between  the  Rio  Grande  and  the  Kansas  border, 
which  would  be  dependent  upon  the  proposed  lines  for  an  outlet  to 
market. 

By  reference,  Mr.  Speaker,  to  the  last  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  we  find  that  the  net  earnings  of  the  Union  Pacific  and  Cali- 
fornia Central  Pacific  Railroads  for  the  current  year  amount  to  the 
large  sum  of  $14,386,626.03 ;  or,  upon  a  line  1,913  miles  in  length  from 
Omaha  to  San  Francisco,  that  these  roads  are  earning  annually  $7,520 
per  mile,  a  sum  sufficient  to  pay  the  interest  on  a  bonded  indebted- 
ness, at  5  per  cent,  per  annum,  of  $150,400  per  mile. 

Now,  the  utmost  bonded  debt  the  companies  could  incur  under  the 
provisions  of  this  bill  would  be  $40,000  per  mile  on  the  main  line, 
$35,000  per  mile  on  the  San  Diego  extension,  and  $30,000  per  mile  on 
the  Vinita  and  other  eastern  connections.  This  is  the  outside  limit, 
and  the  Government  would  only  be  liable,  on  account  of  interest, 
from  $1,500  to  $2,000  per  mile,  and  not  to  this  extent  if  the  cost  of 


12 

construction  falls  below  the  limit  allowed,  which  I  believe  will  be  the 
case. 

I  desire  the  attention  of  gentlemen  to  these  striking  figures  and  to 
the  fact  that  this  extraordinary  showing  of  earnings  upon  the  Union 
Pacific  and  California  Central  is  upon  aline  of  road  traversing  a  wide 
extent  of  country  of  inferior  natural  resources,  many  hundred  miles 
of  which  are  devoid  of  population,  except  in  isolated  spots,  and  upon 
which  vast  sums  of  money  have  to  be  expended  during  the  winter 
months  to  keep  it  open  for  travel,  and,  further,  that  this  earning  is 
at  a  period  when  transcontinental  commerce  is  in  its  infancy  and  at 
a  time  of  great  commercial  depression. 

Such  being  the  fact,  may  I  not  ask,  if  this  line,  with  all  its  dis- 
advantages of  costly  operation  and  frequent  interruption  to  travel, 
its  sparse  population  and  unproductive  soil,  earns  a  sum  sufficient  to 
pay  an  interest  of  5  per  cent,  on  a  debt  of  $150,400  per  mile,  can  there 
be  a  doubt,  when  the  southern  line  provided  for  in  this  bill  shall  be 
in  operation  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  that  its  earn- 
ings will  be  as  large?  Certainly,  no  one  acquainted  with  the  com- 
parative merits  of  the  regions  of  country  penetrated  by  the  two  lines 
can  doubt  it. 

And  when  it  is  considered  that  nearly  70  per  cent,  of  the  earnings 
of  the  Union  and  Central  Pacific  lines  is  derived  from  local  traffic, 
the  view  presented  is  more  than  confirmed. 

It  is  in  no  invidious  spirit  that  a  comparison  is  instituted  between 
the  present  and  proposed  line  of  Pacific  roads,  to  the  disadvantage 
of  the  former,  for,  whatever  may  have  been  the  recklessness  of  con- 
gressional liberality  in  the  grant  of  lands  and  money  to  it,  there  is 
hardly  an  enlightened  man  in  the  land  who  would  be  willing  that 
the  Government  should  take  back  its  gifts  and  by  some  Aladdin-like 
enchantment  obliterate  the  magic  line  across  the  continent  which 
has  annihilated  space,  established  civilization  in  the  gorges  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and  brought  the  dwellers  on  two  oceans  into  close 
neighborship. 

But  I  merely  desire  to  show  that,  as  the  proposed  southern  line 
traverses  a  country  of  superior  advantages,  it  would  be  able  to  meet 
its  obligations  to  the  Government;  be  a  boon  to  the  commercial 
world,  and  of  advantage  to  the  whole  country.  The  one  stretches 
across  the  continent  on  the  high  parallels  of  forty  and  forty-one  de- 
grees north  latitude;  over  elevations  varying  from  six  to  eight  thou- 
sand feet  above  the  sea  level;  subject  to  frequent  and  dangerous 
interruptions;  traversing  a  thousand  miles  or  more  of  desolate  and 
unproductive  country,  much  of  it  as  dead  to  cultivation  or  the  sup- 
port of  animal  life  as  the  Desert  of  Sahara. 

In  striking  contrast  to  this  is  the  line  on  the  thirty-second  and 
thirty-third  parallels,  the  highest  elevations  of  which  are  less  than 
five  thousand  feet  above  tide-water ;  passing  from  the  Mississippi 
River  westward  through  ten  degrees  of  longitude  of  as  productive 
soil  as  the  continent  can  boast ;  thence  across  the  finest  natural  past- 
ures to  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande,  famous  for  its  wheat,  grapes, 
and  fruit ;  thence  along  the  rich  valleys  and  grassy  plains  of  Arizona 
and  Southern  California,  with  its  western  terminus  upon  the  Bay  of 
San  Diego,  rivaling  in  beauty  the  celebrated  Bay  of  Naples  and  in  a 
climate  as  genial  as  that  of  Southern  Italy. 

Besides  the  difference  in  climate,  productiveness  of  soil,  and  ca- 
pacity for  rearing  live  stock  along  the  southern  line,  it  should  be 
mentioned  that  the  inexharistible  pine  forests  of  Arkansas,  Louisiana, 
and  Eastern  Texas  would  afford  a  local  traffic  to  supply  Western 


13 

Texas  and  New  Mexico  with  lumber  that  would  be  a  constant  source 
of  revenue  to  the  road,  and  in  this  connection,  as  another  source  of 
great  local  traffic,  it  should  be  remarked  that  the  main  line-  passes 
through  extensive  fields  of  excellent  coal. 

Another  great  source  of  traffic  and  prosperity  to  this  line  of  road 
would  be  its  proximity,  for  several  hundred  miles,  to  the  northern 
states  of  Mexico. 

There  is  no  country  known  to  civilization  so  prolific  in  the  precious 
metals,  especially  silver,  as  these  states.  According  to  recent  au- 
thorities the  annual  average  coinage  of  the  precious  metals  in  Mexico 
cannot  be  less  than  $26,000,000  in  silver  and  $3,000,000  in  gold.  Of 
this  large  amount  a  very  great  proportion  is  produced  from  the  mines 
near  to  the  proposed  line  of  road. 

The  construction  of  the  road  would  be  the  means  of  introducing 
machinery  and  skilled  labor  into  these  mines  that  would  stimulate 
their  production  to  an  extraordinary  degree. 

It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  while  the  United  States  and  Mexico, 
sister  republics,  have  more  than  two  thousand  miles  of  contiguous 
territory,  we  enjoy  but  15  per  cent,  of  her  foreign  trade. 

With  the  construction  of  the  proposed  railroad  and  the  results  that 
would  naturally  flow  from  it  in  the  construction  of  a  line  from 
El  Paso  to  the  cities  of  Chihuahua,  Durango,  Queretaro,  and  to  the 
city  of  Mexico;  and  from  Tucson,  in  Arizona,  to  Guaymas,  on  the 
California  Gulf,  the  condition  of  things  would  change,  and  instead  of 
Mexico  being  an  exporter  to  European  markets  of  her  precious  metals 
and  a  consumer  of  the  goods  obtained  in  exchange,  American  labor 
would  supply  the  fabrics,  machinery,  and  goods  required  for  Mexican 
consumption,  and  a  new  source  of  wealth  would  reward  American  en- 
terprise. 

But  as  rich  in  mineral  deposits  as  are  the  northern  states  of  Mexico, 
our  own  Territories  of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  fall  but  little  behind 
them. 

Sufficient  is  known  to  warrant  the  assertion  that  when  machinery 
can  be  carried  there,  and  life  is  safe  from  Indian  outrages,  the  mines 
of  these  Territories  will  prove  to  be  as  rich  as  the  mines  of  Nevada. 
At  this  very  time  rich  ores  of  gold  and  silver  in  the  natural  state  are 
being  transported  on  mules  to  Yuma,  and  thence  shipped  down  the 
Colorado  to  the  Gulf  of  California,  and  thence  by  sea  to  San  Fran- 
cisco ;  while  crude  copper,  in  bars,  is  hauled  in  Mexican  carts  from 
the  copper-mines  in  New  Mexico,  a  distance  of  nearly  five  hundred- 
miles,  to  meet  railroad  transportation. 

So  that,  Mr.  Speaker,  recurring  to  the  point  as  to  the  value  of  the 
property  proposed  to  be  mortgaged  to  the  Government  to  secure  it 
against  loss,  I  think  I  have  clearly  shown  that  the  lien  upon  the  roads 
and  equipments  would  be  ample ;  and  further,  that  the  net  earnings, 
exclusive  of  any  other  security,  would  be  more  than  sufficient  to  meet 
the  interest  on  the  guaranteed  bonds. 

But,  sir,  it  is  not  alone  the  first-mortgage  lien  upon  the  roads  and 
all  their  property,  including  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  land  and 
earnings,  out  of  which  the  Government  is  to  be  made  safe  for  the 
loan  of  its  credit,  not  to  exceed  $2,000  per  mile  ;  but  you  have  also 
the  retention  in  the  Treasury  of  all  the  earnings  of  these  lines  of 
road  for  transportation  of  troops  and  supplies,  and  for  postal  and  tel- 
egraph service.  To  enable  you  to  form  some  opinion  as  to  the  ex- 
tent and  value  of  this  security,  I  refer  you  to  the  last  report  of  the 
Quartermaster-General,  which  shows  that  there  have  been  paid  to  ex- 
isting Pacific  railroads,  for  military  transportation,  $7,28  8.t20.C4,  T\h 


14 

Claims  unadjusted,  $(310,720. 93  .  total,  $7,839,550.13.  The  amount 
earned  last  year  on  this  account  was  $585,468.13.  In  proof  of  the  as- 
sertion that  the  earnings  from  this  source  would  be  greater  on  the 
proposed  lines  than  is  shown  by  the  figures  above  quoted,  I  call 
your  attention  to  the  fact  that  until  the  recent  outbreak  of  the  north- 
ern Sioux,  which  necessitated  the  temporary  withdrawal  from  the 
Southwest  of  a  very  large  portion  of  this  force,  there  have  been  main- 
tained for  the  last  five  or  six  years,  at  forty  different  military  posts, 
eleven  regiments  of  infantry  and  cavalry,  which  would  have  received 
their  supplies  by  the  lines  of  road,  proposed  by  the  bill,  had  they  been 
in  operation. 

From  this  source  alone  the  earnings  of  the  company  could  not  have 
been  less  than  $1,000,000  annually,  besides  effecting  to  the  Govern- 
ment a  saving  of  more  than  three  times  that  sum  by  the  greater 
cheapness  of  railroad  over  wagon  transportation. 

Just  how  much  that  would  be  is  strikingly  shown  in  the  letter  of 
the  Quartermaster-General  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  dated  January 
31,  1873,  in  which  he  says  : 

the  freight  moved 
shown  above,  during 

«,.„.,.  „        1873,  would  be  as  fol- 

lows : 

Kates  per  100  pounds  per  100  miles,  railroad  rates,  40|  cents. 
Rates  per  100  pounds  per  hundred  miles,  wagon  rates,  $1.46. 

Actual  cost  of  freight  at  railroad  rates $1,896,589  57 

Estimate  of  cost  at  wagon  rates 6,837,088  32 

Showing  a  total  estimated  cost  for  moving  the  troops  and  supplies  by 

stage  and  wagon  of 9,850,134  67 

Total  cost  railroad 3,342,851  82 

Estimated  difference 6,507.282  85 

Equivalent  to  about  66  per  cent,  saving. 

In  addition  to  this  the  Indian  transportation  must  not  be  forgotten, 
and  to  show  how  enormous  that  is  and  what  a  saving  to  the  Govern- 
ment it  would  be  if  we  had  rail  transportation,  I  need  only  refer  you 
to  recent  appropriations  made  for  this  branch  of  the  public  service. 

For  postal  service  on  the  Union  and  Central  Pacific  for  the  fiscal 
year  ending  the  30th  June  last,  the  earnings  of  these  roads  amount 
to  $610,899.22.  The  increase  in  postal  matter  on  these  lines  is  at  the 
annual  rate  of  13  per  cent. ;  and  at  no  very  distant  day,  as  the  coun- 
try continues  to  settle  and  develop  and  our  commerce  with  Mexico 
and  other  countries  increases,  this  source  of  revenue  to  the  proposed 
line  and  consequent  security  to  the  Government  would  appreciate  in 
value. 

So  that  from  these  military,  postal,  telegraphic,  and  Indian  neces- 
sities, we  may  safely  venture  the  assertion  the  Government  would 
hold  in  its  own  hands  a  security  of  not  less  than  one  million  and  a 
lialf  annually  to  be  applied  to  liquidation  of  interest. 

Besides  the  security  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  lands  of  the 
companies,  amounting  to  about  twenty-five  million  acres,  which  after 
completion  of  the  roads  must  be  very  considerable,  there  are  the  $5,000 
per  mile  of  bonds,  retained  in  the  Treasury,  which  can  be  sold  at  any 
time  to  make  good  any  deficit  in  sinking  fund  and  interest.  If  there 
were  no  other  security  this  would  be  sufficient.  Such  a  bond,  with  a 
first  mortgage  on  property  so  valuable,  with  the  interest  guaranteed 
by  the  Government,  would  sell  for  very  nearly  par,  and  no  one  will 
deny  that  it  would  bring  more  than  twice  the  amount  for  which  the 
^Government  would  be  boiind. 

Then,  sir,  may  I  not  ask  the  most  incredulous  if  the  road  itself,  its 


15 


•earnings,  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  bonds,  the  Government  trans- 
portation and  postal-service,  and  the  $5,000  guaranteed  bonds  per 
mile,  altogether,  do  not  present  a  security  that  will  be  absolutely  cer- 
tain to  hold  the  Government  harmless  against  its  obligations  to  meet 
an  interest  not  to  exceed,  at  the  utmost  limit,  $2,000  per  mile  on 
eleven  hundred  and  eighty-seven  miles,  $1,750  per  mile  on  one  hun- 
dred miles,  and  $1,500  per  mile  on  ten  hundred  and  eighteen  miles  ? 
No  candid  and  unprejudiced  mind  can  doubt  it. 

Mr.  Speaker,  having  established  the  necessity  of  this  work  and,  as 
I  think,  demonstrated  by  the  foregoing  facts  and  figures  that  the  Gov- 
ernment could  sustain  no  loss,  the  security  being  largely  in  excess  of 
any  possible  liability,  my  next  inquiry  will  be,  Is  the  measure  just? 

For  Congress  to  be/wsi,  in  the  sense  of  this  inquiry,  is  for  it  to  so 
shape  its  legislation  that  all  sections  of  the  Union  shall  enjoy  equal 
benefits  from  the  distribution  of  its  favors.  Has  this  been  the  case  ? 

From  the  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office 
it  appears  that  the  southern  States  have  received  the  following  dona- 
tions of  land  for  the  purposes  of  internal  improvement : 

Acres. 

Alabama 3,579,120 

Florida 2,360,114 

Louisiana 1,577,840 

Arkansas * 4,879,149 

Missouri 2,895,160 

Total  to  southern  States 15,381,382 

The  donations  to  northern  States  have  been  as  follows : 

Acres. 

Wisconsin 5,236,797 

Minnesota 9,  664,  042 

Oregon 1,888,600 

Illinois 3,249,968 

Iowa 6,795,256 

Michigan 5,962,480 

Kansas.... 8,840,000 

Ohio 1,100,361 

Indiana 1,439,279 

Total  tolnorthern  States 44,376,763 

Grants  of  land  to  southern  corporations,  including  the  grant  to  the 
Texas  and  Pacific  and  the  New  Orleans,  Baton  Rouge  and  Vicksburgh 
roads,  21,800,000  acres;  to  northern  corporations,  95,036,760  acres; 
total  to  southern  States  and  southern  corporations  for  purposes  of 
internal  improvement,  37,181,383  acres  ;  total  to  northern  States  and 
northern  corporations,  149,413,543  acres.  Is  this  a  just  distribution 
of  the  public  domain  ? 

Again,  in  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  made  to  the 
Senate  January  7,  1874,  it  is  shown  that  from  1789  to  1873  the  appro- 
priations of  money  in  aid  of  the  construction  of  wagon-roads,  rail- 
roads, and  canals  were  as  follows : 

For  the  sixteen  southern  and  border  States $6,  981,  982  90 

For  the  northern  States  and  Territories 97, 025,  762  70 

During  the  same  period  the  Secretary's  report  shows  that  for  other 
public  works  the  disproportion  was  nearly  as  great,  being  $11,612,- 
086.56  for  the  border  and  southern  States,  against  $76.859,609.50  for 
the  northern  States  and  Territories. 

If  this  is  just,  it  is  the  justice  of  the  partial  father  who  leaves  his 
millions  to  his  favored  son  and  cuts  off  another,  who  has  equal  claims 
to  his  love  and  protection,  with  a  paltry  shilling. 


16 

The  instances  of  this  partiality  are  so  numerous  that  I  forbear  to 
weary  you  by  their  enumeration. 

But,  as  a  subject  pertinent  to  this  discussion,  I  cannot  resist  calling 
your  attention  to  the  extraordinary  liberality  of  Congress  in  voting 
the  lands  and  money  of  the  Government  for  the  construction  of  Pacific 
Railroads  for  the  exclusive  benefit  of  the  northern  sections  of  the  Union. 
What  I  said  before  I  repeat,  that  I  allude  to  this  branch  of  my  sub- 
ject with  no  unfriendly  sentiments  toward  the  favored  corporations, 
much  less  toward  my  fellow-citizens  inhabiting  those  sections  of  the 
country  so  greatly  benefited  by  the  liberality  of  the  Government,  but 
merely  to  ask  that  at  least  some  liberality  may  be  shown  toward  another 
important  section  of  the  Union. 

From  the  official  records  in  the  General  Land  Office  it  appears  that 
Congress  has  from  time  to  time  made  the  following  grants  of  land  to 
the  Union  and  Pacific  roads  and  their  branches : 

Acres. 

Union  Pacific 12,000,000 

Central  Branch 245,000 

The  Denver  Pacific 1,100,000 

Burlington  and  Missouri  River -• 3,  680,  968 

Sioux  City  Pacific 60,000 

Kansas  Pacific 6,000,000 

Chicago,  Kock  Island  and  Pacific -* 1,261,181 

Total  to  the  Union  Pacific  and  branches 27,  922, 147 

The  donations  of  land  to  the  Central  Pacific  of  California  and  its 
branches  have  been  quite  as  liberal,  as  follows: 

Acres. 

To  the  Central  Pacific 8,000,000 

To  the  Western  Pacific 1,100,000 

Oregon  Branch • 3,000,000 

Oregon  and  California  Railroad 3,500,000 

Southern  Pacific  Branch  of  Central  Pacific 9,520,000 

Oregon  Central 1,200,000 

Total  to  Central  Pacific  and  branches 25, 120,  000 

making  an  aggregate  donation  to  the  two  roads  and  their  branches 
of  53,042,429  acres  of  the  public  domain. 

If  these  donations  of  land  seem  munificent,  the  liberality  of  Con- 
gress toward  those  favored  corporations  in  gifts  of  money  will  cer- 
tainly not  seem  less  so.  The  Government  has  issued  bonds  to  the 
Union  and  Central  Pacific  Railroad  Companies  and  their  branches, 
and  paid  interest,  not  yet  repaid  by  the  companies,  as  follows : 

To  the  Union  Pacific : 

Bonds $27,236,512  00 

Interest 9, 391,  684  65 

Central  branch  of  Union  Pacific: 

Bonds  1,600,000  00 

Interest 883,400  21 

Sioux  City  and  Pacific,  a  branch  of  the  Union  Pacific : 

Bonds I ' 1,628,320  00 

Interest 740,932  el 

Kansas  Pacific,  a  branch  of  the  Union  Pacific : 

Bonds  6,303,00000 

Interest...  1,980,47?  05 


Total  for  Union  Pacific  and  branches $48,  761, 234  51 

To  the  Central  Pacific : 

Bonds  , 25,885,120  00 

Interest...  11,312,172  75 


17 

"Western  Pacific,  branch  of  the  Central  Pacific : 

Bonds 970,560  00 

Interest 831,247  74 


Total  for  Central  Pacific  and  branches $39, 999, 000  49 

makinga  grand  total  for  the  main  line  and  four  branches  of  $91,052,795, 
or  at  the  average  rate  of  $32,782  per  mile  of  indebtedness  to  the  Gov- 
ernment for  the  principal  and  unpaid  interest  of  the  bonds  given  in 
aid  of  the  construction  of  twenty-seven  hundred  and  eighty-nine  miles 
of  main  line  and  branches. 

~  This  does  not  include  the  sum  of  $6,990,306.21  reported  by  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Interior  as  having  been  placed  to  the  credit  of  the  re- 
spective companies  in  payment  for  military  and  postal  transportation 
and  telegraph  service. 

There  is  one  feature  of  these  donations  of  land  and  bonds  to  the 
companies  named  to  which  I  desire  to  ask  the  particular  attention 
of  gentlemen  who  may  be  disposed  to  criticise  the  recommendation 
of  the  Committee  on  the  Pacific  Railroad  in  reference  to  a  guarantee 
of  interest  in  aid  of  the  construction  of  branches  to  the  proposed 
trunk  line.  The  committee  had  abundant  precedent  for  such  a  course 
in  past  legislation.  Of  the  53,042,149  acres  of  public  lands  donated 
to  the  Union  and  Central  Pacific  Railroads  and  their  branches  only 
20,000,000  accrued  to  the  main-line  roads,  while  33,042,149  acres  were 
bestowed  upon  their  branches  ;  and  of  this  present  money  indebted- 
ness to  the  Government,  $27,227,305.60,  or  at  the  average  rate  of 
$28,179  per  mile,  are  due  from  the  branches. 

In  this  connection  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  Vinita  branch, 
in  consideration  of  the  guarantee  asked,  is  required  to  relinquish  its 
unforfeited  land  grant,  estimated  by  the  Commissioner  of  the  Gen- 
eral Land  Office  at  41,496,165  acres ;  and,  more  than  this :  the  Govern- 
ment is  to  be  relieved  from  its  obligation  to  extinguish  the  Indian 
title  to  lands  for  the  company  in  the  Indian  Territory.  And  further, 
it  should  be  remembered  that  the  Vinita  branch,  the  Memphis  branch, 
and  the  San  Diego  connection,  having  a  total  length  of  six  hundred 
and  eighty-five  miles,  receive  no  grants  of  land  whatever.  If  it  was 
proper  to  give  bonds  to  four  of  the  branches  of  the  existing  line  and 
lands  to  twelve  of  them,  surely  it  is  but  just  to  guarantee  the  inter- 
est on  these  branches  that  get  no  lands  at  all ;  and  can  our  friends 
who  have  been  so  largely  benefited  refuse  it  to  us  ? 

So,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  scheme  of  the  present  bill,  with  only  a 
main  through  line  to  San  Diego,  without  any  western  branches,  and 
with  one  eastern  connection,  that  is  to  benefit  the  Middle  and  North- 
ern States,  and  the  three  connections  to  Memphis,  Vicksburgh,  and  New 
Orleans,  falls  in  extent  of  miles  of  road  immeasurably  below  that  of  the 
Union  Pacific,  with  its  radiating  extensions,  the  Central  Branch,  Sioux 
City  and  Pacific,  and  the  Kansas  Pacific,  upon  which  bonds  of  the 
Government  were  issued,  and  the  Denver  Pacific,  Burlington  and  Mis- 
souri RiVer,  and  Chicago,  Rock  Island  and  Pacific,  receiving  grants  of 
lands,  thus  making  the  main  line  of  the  Union  Pacific  and  three 
branches  that  received  Government  bonds  and  the  same  roads  and 
three  additional  branches  receiving  lands.  Thus  we  see  the  six  east- 
ern connections  of  the  Union  Pacific  spreading  out  from  the  main 
trunk  east,  to  the  Mississippi  River,  to  Chicago,  and  to  the  States  north 
and  south,  affording  connections  in  every  direction. 

Look  at  the  map.    Here  you  see  how  every  interest  of  the  great 
West,  of  the  East,  and  of  the  North  has  been  cared  for  by  the  lib- 
erality of  the  Government.    But  look  still  further  at  the  map ;  trace 
2  TH 


18 

the  main  line  of  the  Union  Pacific  and  Central  Pacific  through  the 
States  and  Territories  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  then  look  at  the 
branches  on  the  western  end.  Here  you  see  the  Western  Pacific,  run- 
ning from  Sacramento  to  Oakland ;  the  Oregon  branch  of  the  Central 
Pacific,  running  from  near  Sacramento,  connecting  with  the  Oregon 
and  California  Railroad  running  to  Portland,  and  there  connecting 
with  the  Oregon  Central,  extending  to  Astoria,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia  River.  Here  you  see  the  Southern  Pacific,  a  connection  of 
the  Central  Pacific,  running  from  Lathrop  through  all  that  portion  of 
California  south  of  the  main  line,  to  Fort  Yuma;  besides  another 
extension  to  Hollister  and  Santa  Barbara,  and  continuing  down  the 
coast,  making  six  branches  or  extensions  on  the  western  end  and 
ramifying  the  country  in  every  direction. 

Compare  the  measure  proposed  by  the  committee,  with  its  four 
eastern  connections,  with  the  Union  and  Central  Pacific,  with  their 
six  eastern  and  six  western  grand  extensions,  connecting  the  main 
lines  with  the  Mississippi,  the  great  lakes,  and  the  Pacific,  and  with 
the  vast  net-work  of  railroads  in  the  East  and  in  the  North  and 
West,  and  you  will  see  how  moderate  and  how  just  is  this  demand, 
this  plea  in  behalf  of  the  South ;  sir,  not  only  in  behalf  of  the 
South,  but  equally  in  behalf  of  the  commerce  and  interest  of  the 
whole  country. 

Mr.  Speaker,  may  I  not  remind  the  members  of  this  body  that  it 
was  a  southern  State  which  gave  to  the  Union  the  territory  which 
now  forms  the  great  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  and 
Michigan,  and  which  has  so  largely  enabled  the  General  Government 
to  foster  and  encourage  the  grand  system  of  internal  improvements 
to  which  I  have  referred  ?  May  I  not  further  remind  them  that  it  was 
the  common  treasure  of  all  the  older  States  that  made  the  Louisiana 
purchase ;  that  it  was  the  common  blood  and  common  treasure  that 
secured  New  Mexico.  California,  and  Arizona  ?  Sir,  may  I  not  also 
remind  them  of  the  fact  that  southern  tax-payers,  southern  toilers, 
and  southern  commerce  contribute,  alike  with  those  of  the  North  and 
East  and  West,  to  the  common  treasure  which  is  bearing  the  burden 
of  principal  and  interest  of  the  bonds  issued  for  the  construction  of 
the  already  completed  Pacific  roads  and  branches  ? 

Mr.  Speaker,  in  view  of  all  the  facts  presented  may  we  not  most 
confidently  appeal  to  our  brethren  of  the  more  favored  sections  of  the 
Union  for  help  on  this  occasion. 

Our  friends  from  New  England,  whose  harbors  and  fisheries  and 
manufactories  have  so  long  received  the  bounty  and  care  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, should  not  begrudge  us  the  little  asked  by  this  measure. 

The  Representatives  from  the  States  of  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,  and  Maryland,  with  the  commercial  metropolis  of  each 
State  made  so  largely  from  southern  wealth  and  production,  and 
which  have  received  so  much  from  the  Government,  should  come  for- 
ward with  alacrity  and  aid  us  in  this  our  day  of  poverty  and  suffering. 

The  five  grand  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  and  Wis- 
consin, that  have  received  so  liberally  of  the  public  lands,  and  whose 
boundaries  are  washed  by  the  waters  of  the  Ohio,  the  lakes,  and  the 
Mississippi,  the  annual  recipients  of  the  bounty  of  the  Government 
for  the  promotion  and  protection  of  their  commerce,  will  not  surely 
turn  a  deaf  ear  to  our  appeals  for  help  and  justice. 

Sir,  may  we  not  make  an  appeal  equally  as  confident  to  the  giant 
young  States  of  Kansas,  Iowa,  Nebraska,  Minnesota,  Oregon,  Cali- 
fornia, and  Nevada,  States  that  have  been  so  peculiarly  and  bounti- 
fully blessed  with  Government  aid  in  lands  and  money  for  their  works 
of  internal  improvement  ? 


19 

Let  me  remind  these  several  interests  that  we  have  enacted  a  law 
which  provides  for  the  appropriation  of  millions  to  deepen  the  mouths 
of  the  Mississippi.  This  is  done  in  the  interest  of  the  commerce  of 
the  whole  country,  but  especially  that  northern  and  western  pro- 
duction may  have  free  egress  to  the  waters  of  the  ocean,  and  that 
their  consumption  of  foreign  commodities  may  be  cheapened. 

And  now,  sir,  I  would  not  close  my  appeal  to  the  different  sections 
and  interests  of  the  country  without  invoking  the  help  of  those  from 
the  South  who  have  hitherto  opposed  this  measure. 

How  long,  how  long  will  you  continue  to  talk  about  constitutional 
power,  when  the  power  has  been  exercised  almost  every  year  since 
the  foundation  of  the  Government  ?  Is  not  this  a  post-road  ?  Is  it  not  a 
military  necessity  ?  Does  it  not  regulate  commerce  between  the  States  ? 

Madison,  Jefferson,  Monroe,  Jackson,  Calhoun,  Clay,  Webster,  Ben- 
ton,  Douglass,  Hunter,  Jefferson  Davis,  Houston,  and  Rusk,  recog- 
nized the  power  of  Congress  to  do  this  thing. 

Then,  why  should  we  falter  and  doubt  ?  How  long,  my  southern 
friends,  will  you  refuse  to  aid  yourselves,  or  to  assist  your  kindred 
and  your  neighbors,  because  of  your  ancient  prejudices  against  the 
policy  of  the  Federal  Government  contributing  its  powerful  counte- 
nance to  the  support  of  measures  not  purely  governmental,  but  which 
do  go  a  great  way  in  providing  for  the  common  defense  and  general 
welfare  ? 

Under  your  theory  and  practice,  Arkansas  and  Missouri  and  other 
southern  States  have  languished  in  poverty  or  fallen  far  behind  some 
of  their  sisters  in  the  march  of  progress.  Their  vast  areas  of  produc- 
tive soil ;  their  water-power  and  ever-flowing  streams ;  their  deposits 
of  iron  and  coal ;  their  forests  of  walnut,  ash,  cypress,  oak,  and  pine 
are  almost  useless  to-day ;  their  population  and  progress  have  not 
kept  pace  with  other  States  less  favored  in  climate,  soil,  productions, 
and  mineral  deposits.  While  the  statesmen  of  the  North,  acting  upon 
the  acknowledged  powers  of  Government,  as  sanctioned  by  Calhoun 
and  others,  have  wisely  looked  to  their  own  interests  locally ;  and  by 
so  doing  have  added  to  the  wealth  and  population  of  their  localities, 
and  have  given  to  their  sections  an  influence  in  the  control  of  this 
Government,  which,  by  our  do-nothing  policy,  leaves  our  section, 
though  older,  with  a  more  genial  and  favored  climate,  with  a  richer 
and  more  productive  soil,  far  behind. 

One  of  the  main  pillars  of  democracy,  Mr.  Douglas,  was  the  au- 
thor, I  believe,  of  the  land-grant  system.  Under  his  auspices,  Illi- 
nois obtained  from  the  General  Government  certain  public  lands, 
which  that  State  granted  to  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company. 

Mr.  Speaker,  when  I  look  back  to  this  action  of  Congress  and  of 
the  State  of  Illinois ;  when  I  look  at  the  surroundings  of  that  great 
State,  and  see  her  navigable  waters  of  the  lake,  the  Mississippi,  the 
Ohio,  the  Wabash,  the  Illinois  River,  and  her  canal,  and  regard  her  en- 
tire territory,  a  long,  narrow  State,  in  no  place  very  distant  from  nav- 
igation, without  half  the  productive  capacity  possessed  by  my  State, 
and  remember  the  public  debt  and  taxation  that  weighed  her  down 
at  that  time,  and  contrast  it  with  her  present  population,  taxable 
values,  and  prosperity,  I  am  filled  with  admiration  at  the  sagacity 
and  wisdom  of  her  great  statesman,  Mr.  Douglas.  What  was  she  in 
1850,  borne  down  and  crushed  with  debt  and  taxation,  incurred  by  a 
foolish  effort  to  build  up  a  system  of  internal  improvements  by  State . 
aid? 

She  incurred  a  debt  of  $20,000,000  and  had  secured  scarcely^  a  mile- 
of  completed  railroad;  but  Mr.  Douglas  invoked  the  aid  of  Congress; 


20 

uiid  got  a  grattt  of  lands  of  six  sections  per  mile,  some  of  which  had 
been  in  the  market  for  years,  and,  under  the  graduating  law,  could 
have  been  entered  at  thirty-seven  and  one-half  cents  per  acre. 

Yet  with  this  grant  a  railroad Avas  speedily  constructed  from  Cairo 
to  Chicago,  and  a  branch  to  Dubuque,  on  the  Upper  Mississippi,  mak- 
ing connections  with  points  that  already  had  connections  by  navi- 
gable waters.  In  1850  the  population  of  Illinois  was  846,000,  now  it 
is  a  little  less  than  three  millions.  At  that  time  Illinois  owed 
$20,000,000,  and  her  people  groaned  under  a  most  ruinous  load  of  tax- 
ation. Then  her  taxable  property  and  values  were  $156,265,000. 
Then  she  had  scarcely  a  mile  of  completed  railroad.  Now,  mark  the 
extraordinary  change  :  In  1870  her  taxable  values  were  $2,121,680,000; 
her  debt  has  been  discharged  by  the  7  per  cent,  tax  paid  by  the  Illi- 
nois Central  Railroad,  and  her  State  government  is  largely  supported 
from  the  same  source ;  and  besides  her  navigable  waters,  she  has 
six  thousand  four  hundred  and  ninety-six  miles  of  railroad.  Who 
can  wonder  at  her  prosperity  ?  Who  should  wonder  that,  though 
younger  than  any  of  the  original  thirteen  States ;  younger  than  Ken- 
tucky and  Tennessee,  she  should  be  the  fourth  State  in  population 
and  influence  in  the  (government.  Her  climate,  her  production,  her 
area,  her  mineral  wealth,  are  not  superior,  indeed  they  are  inferior,  to 
those  of  Missouri,  and  yet  she  is  far  ahead  in  population,  wealth, 
and  political  influence. 

I  ask  my  southern  friends  to  draw  a  useful  lesson  from  these  facts. 
It  cannot  be  too  strongly  impressed  upon  them.  Southern  statesman- 
ship should  heed  it. 

While  southern  members  of  Congress  have  been  stickling  about 
State  rights  and  the  powers  conferred  on  Congress  by  the  Constitu- 
tion, northern  statesmanship  has  asked  and  obtained  favors  from  the 
Government  that  have  conquered  the  inhospitality  of  climate ;  turned 
the  wilderness  of  the  great  Northwest  into  populous  States;  built  up 
commercial  centers  of  trade;  populated  the  desolate  valleys,  plains, 
and  mountain-tops  of  our  distant  Territories,  and  made  the  sterile 
regions  of  Utah  and  Nevada  contribute  to  the  wealth  and  prosperity 
of  the  nation. 

While  these  things  have  been  going  on  the  politicians  of  Arkansas, 
Louisiana,  Mississippi,  the  Carolinas,  Alabama,  Georgia,  Florida,  Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee,  Virginia,  Texas,  and  Missouri  have  been  talking 
about  State  rights,  about  the  powers  conferred  by  the  Constitution, 
and  the  true  policy  to  be  pursued  by  the  Government. 

The  report  of  the  chairman  of  the  committee  on  this  bill  shows 
that  both  the  political  parties  were  pledged  to  this  measure  of  a  Pa- 
cific railroad  in  1860.  The  necessity  is  as  great  now  as  then  ;  neces- 
sity forced  a  line  where  it  was  then  hardly  anticipated. 

Can  either  party  or  any  person  say  that  the  present  constructed 
line  is  not  a  monopoly  which  Congress  seems  powerless  to  control, 
or  that  the  proposed  measure  will  not  take  off  a  great  burden  both 
from  the  Government  and  the  public,  and  make  that  competition 
which  will  lead  to  reasonable  charges  for  fares  and  freights,  and 
leave  commerce  unfettered  to  seek  the  safest  and  cheapest  passage 
across  the  continent  ? 

Not  only  are  the  two  great  political  parties  pledged  to  such  work, 
but  the  people  from  every  section  of  the  Union  have  spoken  out  in 
favor  of  congressional  aid  to  a  southern  line.  The  States  of  Texas, 
Missouri,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Tennessee,  South  Carolina,  Florida, 
Kentucky,  North  Carolina,  and  Georgia,  through  their  Legislatures. 
haVe  passed  resolutions  approving  the  measure.  The  National  Grange, 


21 

which  met  at  Charleston  two  years  ago,  declared  in  favor  of  it.  The 
convention  which  met  at  Saint  Louis  last  year,  with  delegates  from 
almost  every  State  and  Territory,  eight  hundred  in  number,  gentle- 
men of  high  character  and  ability,  memorialized  your  body  on  this 
subject  and  recommended  the  branches  provided  for  in  this  bill. 

Then,  sir,  it  is  evident  that  the  people  and  every  interest  of  the 
country,  except  rival  corporations  and  cities  that  desire  a  monopoly 
of  transcontinental  commerce,  are  in  favor  of  Congress  doing  some- 
thing to  promote  the  speedy  completion  of  this  work. 

And  now,  sir,  I  appeal  to  every  fair  and  just  minded  member 
of  this  body,  regardless  of  section,  to  come  forward  and  sustain  a 
measure  that  can  have  no  ill-effect  upon  any  section  or  any  interest 
of  the  country,  but  which  cannot  fail  to  lighten  the  burdens  of  Gov- 
ernment and  of  commerce ;  that  will  give  renewed  life  and  vigor  to 
the  industries  of  a  large  section  of  country ;  that  will,  in  some  de- 
gree, restore  the  equality  of  Government  support  to  a  portion  of  the 
States  and  Territories  that  have  heretofore  received  very  little  of  its 
bounty  or  care ;  a  measure  that  none  can  deny  will  be  most  potent  in 
giving  lasting  peace  and  quiet  to  an  extensive  border  that  has  suf- 
fered untold  miseries  for  want  of  adequate  protection;  that  will 
prove  an  economy  in  the  operations  of  the  Army,  in  the  transporta- 
tion of  supplies  to  troops  and  to  Indians ;  in  the  postal  and  tele- 
graphic service  of  the  Government,  that  can  be  attained  in  no  other 
way ;  that  will  open  up  new  fields  of  industry  and  production  and 
create  new  demands  for  the  products  of  industries  already  in  exist- 
ence, that,  without  it,  will  never  occur  :  that  will  open  new  fields  for 
the  acquirement  of  cheap  homes  for  the  many  thousands  of  the  home- 
less in  the  land  who  desire  them ;  that  will  create  a  demand  for  and 
afford  labor  to  the  thousands  of  hungry  and  suffering  toilers  who  to-day 
seek  but  cannot  get  employment ;  that  would  secure  from  a  neighbor- 
ing republic  a  largely  increased  commerce,  bringing  to  us  their  exports 
and  taking  in  return  our  productions,  whose  trade  is  now  almost  entirely 
enjoyed  by  other  countries ;  a  measure,  sir,  which,  if  carried  into  effect, 
will  restore  activity  to  a  thousand  furnaces  whose  fires  are  now  going 
out,  and  bring  back  the  cheerful,  busy  hum  of  industry  in  a  thousand 
shops  now  idle ;  a  measure,  sir,  that  proposes  not  to  curtail  the  labor  or 
industry  of  the  country,  but  would  largely  increase  the  demand  for 
the  one  and  greatly  stimulate  the  other ;  a  measure  that  would  not  di- 
minish the  circulation  of  coin  or  Government  paper,  that  would  not 
inflate  the  currency,  but  which  would  bring  from  abroad  millions 
upon  millions  of  foreign  capital  to  add  to  our  circulation  of  money, 
and  which,  during  the  fifty  years  the  bonds  have  to  run,  will  be  paid, 
not  by  the  mass  of  our  people  or  by  the  Government,  but  by  foreign 
commerce  and  by  that  portion  of  our  people  who  may  vise  the  road  for 
travel  or  traffic  ;  a  measure,  sir,  that  will,  in  my  judgment,  do  more 
to  restore  the  ancient  feeling  of  good-will  and  esteem  between  the 
people  of  the  different  sections  of  the  Union  and  more  effectually 
wipe  out  the  bitter  remembrances  of  the  late  civil  war  than  any  to 
which  we  can  address  ourselves,  and  which,  if  consummated,  will 
bind  all  the  interests  and  sections  of  this  great  Republic  so  closely 
and  firmly  together  that  we  will  forever  remain  one  people,  one 
Union,  one  Republic,  linked  and  bound  together  by  ties  so  strong,  so 
interwoven  with  every  interior  interest,  and  so  expansive  as  to  clasp 
the  remotest  and  most  distant  sections  of  the  country— creating  a 
unity  of  interest  and  reliance  of  one  section  upon  another,  so  strong 
and  so  enduring,  that  all  the  powers  of  earth  could  not  prevail  against 

113. 


22 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES, 

January  24,  Ie77. 

Mr.  LAMAR,  from  the  Committee  on  the  Pacific  Railroad,  submitted 
the  following  report  to  accompany  bill  H.  R.  No.  4531 : 

The  committee  on  the  Pacific  Railroad,  to  whom  were  referred 
House  bills  Nos.  25,  89,  472,  1035, 1305,  and  3140,  after  considering  the 
same,  have  instructed  me  to  report  the  accompanying  bill  as  a  sub- 
stitute therefor,  with  the  recommendation  that  it  do  pass. 

PURPOSE  OF  THE  BILL. 

The  purpose  of  the  bill  which  the  committee  report  is  to  make  cer- 
tain amendments  in  the  original  acts  chartering  the  Texas  Pacific 
Railroad,  by  which  amendments  that  enterprise  will  be  relieved  from 
the  consequence  of  failure  to  comply  with  the  terms  of  the  original 
charter,  and  will  receive  such  aid  from  the  General  Government  as 
will  secure  its  completion. 

The  causes  which  interfered  with  and  prevented  the  prompt  execu- 
tion of  the  conditions  originally  attached  to  the  charter,  and  which 
may  be  stated  briefly  but  entirely  to  have  been  the  disastrous  and 
universal  fall  in  value  of  all  railroad  securities  in  the  money  markets 
of  the  world  consequent  upon  the  financial  panic  of  1873,  are  suffi- 
ciently well  known.  They  were  causes  disconnected  with  any  spe- 
cial mismanagement  of  the  road  itself,  and  simply  rendered  it  impos- 
sible for  the  corporation  to  complete  within  a  given  time  a  certain  por- 
tion of  the  work  they  had  undertaken  to  accomplish,  although  they 
have  completed  and  equipped  445  miles  of  road,  which  is  doing  a  great 
work  in  the  development  of  the  country  it  traverses.  There  is  noth- 
ing in  the  history  of  its  management,  and  certainly  no  change  in  the 
immense  national  importance  of  the  road  itself,  which  would  make 
this  delay  in  its  completion  a  ground  for  suspending  its  franchises  or 
denying  it  any  aid  which  the  interests  of  the  country  and  the  consti- 
tutional power  of  Congress  should,  under  other  circumstances,  fitly 
grant  it. 

The  only  questions,  therefore,  which  this  bill  submitted  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  committee  were  these  two  :  Has  Congress  the  con- 
stitutional power  to  grant  such  aid  as  it  proposes ;  and,  second,  Is  it 
the  interest  of  the  whole  country  that  this  aid  should  be  granted  ? 

IS  THE  AID  PROPOSED  CONSTITUTIONAL? 

With  regard  to  the  constitutional  power,  the  question  would  almost 
seem  to  have  passed  the  point  of  practical  discussion.  If  there  is  one 
point  in  the  general  policy  of  the  country  which  seems  to  lie  in  con- 
sonance with  the  convictions  and  in  harmony  with  the  interests  of 
all  sections,  it  is  that  the  coinpletest,  fullest,  strongest,  and  most  sen- 
sitive sympathy,  politically,  commercially,  and  socially,  should  be 
established  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  coasts,  that  this  great 
continent  shall  be  indeed  one  republic.  The  universality  and  force 
of  this  sentiment  cannot  be  better  illustrated  than  by  citing  the  dec- 
larations of  principles  set  forth  in  the  platforms  of  the  great  political 
parties  into  which  the  people  of  the  country  are  divided. 

THE  DEMOCRATIC  PARTY  COMMITTED  TO  THE  CONSTITUTIONALITY  OF  SUCH  AID. 

The  democratic  national  convention  of  1860,  which  at  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  nominated  Stephen  A.  Douglas  for  President,  adopted 
as  part  of  their  platform  the  following  resolution : 

3.  That  one  of  the  necessities  of  the  age,  in  a  military,  commercial,  and  postal 
point  of  view,  is  a  speedy  communication  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  States ; 
and  the  democratic  party  pledge  such  constitutional  Government  aid  as  will  insure 
the  construction  of  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific  coast  at  the  earliest  practicable  period. 


23 

The  convention  held  at  Baltimore  in  the  same  year  which  nom- 
inated John  C.  Breckinridge  for  President  also  adopted  as  part  of  its 
platform  the  following : 

Whereas  one  of  the  greatest  necessities  of  the  age,  in  apolitical,  commercial,  pos- 
tal, and  military  point  of  view,  is  a  speedy  communication  between  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  coasts:  Therefore, 

Be  it  resolved,  That  the  national  democratic  party  do  hereby  pledge  themselves 
to  use  every  means  in  their  power  to  secure  the  passage  of  some  bill,  to  the  extent 
of  the  constitutional  authority  of  Congress,  for  the  construction  of  a  Pacific  rail- 
way, from  the  Mississippi  River  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  at  the  earliest  practicable 
moment. 

THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY  COMMITTED  TO  THE  CONSTITUTIONALITY  OF  SUCH  AID. 

In  the  republican  platform  of  1860  we  find  the  following  proposi- 
tion: 

That  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  is  imperatively  demanded  by  the  interests  of 
the  whole  country,  and  that  the  Federal  Government  ought  to  reader  immediate 
and  efficient  aid  in  its  construction. 

THE  GOVERNMENT  COMMITTED  TO  THE  CONSTITUTIONALITY  OF  SUCH  AID. 

The  necessity  for  this  work  of  union  had  scarcely  impressed  itself 
upon  the  people  when  the  civil  disturbances  of  1861-'65  forced  its  ex- 
ecution upon  the  Government,  but  under  circumstances  which  com- 
pelled that  Government  to  make  its  practical  connection  more  north- 
wardly than  under  other  circumstances  would,  perhaps,  have  been 
deemed  most  judicious.  But  the  work  even  then  undertaken  and  ac- 
complished at  such  prodigious  expense,  and  with  such  masterful  en- 
ergy, developed  a  system  of  Pacific  connection  which  it  was  evident 
could  not  reach  its  full  and  symmetrical  completion  until  a  more 
southern  Pacific  connection  had  been  added  to  that  already  perfected. 
The  road  as  proposed  in  this  bill  completes  and  perfects  this  system, 
and  as  the  General  Government  has  largely  and  liberally  furnished  aid 
and  subsidy  to  what  has  already  been  accomplished,  it  would  simply 
be  a  reversal  of  an  established  policy  to  refuse  some  sort  of  effectual 
aid  to  complete  what  had  been  so  wisely  and  thoroughly  commenced. 
And  it  would  scarcely  seem  consistent  with  the  spirit  of  justice  and 
fair  dealing,  to  say  nothing  of  the  inconsequence  and  impolicy  of 
leaving  the  system  half  finished,  to  refuse  to  the  southern  section  of 
the  country  the  same  facilities  which  are  afforded  to  the  North,  and 
which  it  must  be  remembered  are  the  contributions  of  the  South  as 
well  as  the  North. 

There  are  sufficient  reasons  in  the  history  of  the  Pacific  connection 
why  the  most  northern  routes  should  have  been  first  completed,  but 
these  reasons  are  deprived  of  nearly  all  their  force  unless  these  routes 
are  considered  as  only  parts  of  one  great  national  system  into  which 
it  is  high  time  that  southern  interests  should  be  fully  incorporated. 
Looking  upon  the  road  proposed,  therefore,  as  the  completion  of  a  sys- 
tem already  in  operation,  the  committee  feel  that  this  bill  does  no 
more  than  give  to  it  the  share  to  which  it  is  fairly  entitled  as  a  part 
of  that  system  of  Pacific  connection  which  the  policy  of  the  country 
has  enacted  and  the  aid  of  the  Government  has  partially  completed. 

Even  then,  if  the  committee  felt  that  there  was  reasonable  doubt 
as  to  the  power  of  Congress  to  give  the  aid  furnished  by  the  guaran- 
tee of  interest  proposed,  they  would  find  themselves  in  the  face  of 
these  facts :  that  during  the  war,  under  the  pressure  of  national 
preservation,  the  General  Government  had  found  itself  compelled  to 
give  aid  and  subsidy  to  the  completion  of  a  Pacific  connection,  the 
location  ef  which  was  limited  to  a  certain  section,  and  in  determin- 
ing which  it  was  not  allowed  to  consider  fairly  and  fully  the  inter- 
ests and  necessities  of  the  whole  country,  because  the  circumstances 


24 

of  the  -war  had  ..withdrawn  some  of  these  interests  and  necessities 
from  their  control.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  when  the  interests  of 
the  whole  country  are  again  committed  to  their  national  guardian- 
ship, we  find  that  this  connection,  proper  in  itself  and  eminently 
serviceable  to  the  country,  is  yet  a  sectional  advantage,  if  not  mo- 
nopoly, and  does  discriminate  against  the  interests  of  a  portion  of 
the  country,  unless  that  section  is  now  permitted  to  enjoy  the  same 
advantages  of  governmental  aid,  though  in  a  greatly  modified  and 
much  more  secure  form,  that  have  been  extended  to  other  sections. 
Surely,  whatever  may  be  the  constitutional  view,  the  policy,  once 
adopted,  must  be  presevered  in  until  this  inequality  is  redressed. 

If  the  past  aid  given  was  right,  then  so  is  this.  If  the  past  aid 
given  was  wrong,  its  result  can  only  be  corrected  by  allowing  it  to 
work  until  it  has  corrected  its  own  partiality ;  because  what  has  been 
accomplished,  if  not  carried  out  as  a  national  system  extending  to  all 
sections,  would  be  simply  to  confine  the  advantage  of  the  Pacific  con- 
nection to  one  section,  and,  from  the  utter  inability  of  the  South  to 
complete  its  own  connection,  render  that  now  existing  between  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  coasts  a  northern  monopoly,  not  objectionable 
because  northern,  but  because  it  would  be  a  monopoly  injurious  to 
the  interests  of  the  whoV  Country. 

ARGUMENT  TO  SHOW  THE  COX£TTTUTIOXALITY  OF  SUCH  AID. 

But  the  committee  does  not  feel  any  reasonable  doubt  of  the  right 
of  the  Government  to  contribute  the  aid  provided  in  this  bill  to  the 
completion  of  a  railroad  which  is  really  necessary  to  its  military  and 
postal  arrangements,  in  which  the  aid  rendered  is  amply  secured,  and 
where  the  public  are  protected  by  proper  legislation  against  the  selfish 
use  by  the  road  of  the  power  thus  given  it. 

There  is  no  question  that  the  Government  has  the  right  to  build  its 
own  military  and  postal  roads,  where  necessary,  and  if  by  a  combi- 
nation with  private  enterprise  it  can  secure  such  roads  under  its  gen- 
eral control  at  a  less  expense,  and  with  contingent  advantage  to  the 
country  through  which  such  roads  pass,  it  is  difficult  to  see  why  this 
method  of  executing  its  powers  should  be  any  less  constitutional  than 
their  direct  and  more  costly  exercise.  It  also  appears  to  your  com- 
mittee that  if  the  general  power  to  regulate  commerce  justifies  the 
execution  of  ocean  surveys,  the  erection  of  light-houses,  the  subsi- 
dizing of  mail  contracts  by  sea,  it  would  be  difficult  to  say  why  the 
same  power  would  not  authorize  the  use  of  any  means  which  would 
secure  and  facilitate  the  means  of  transacting  a  commerce  not  less 
important  or  vast  in  its  ever-growing  proportions,  a  commerce  which 
does  not  pass  from  State  to  State,  protected  by  the  law,  the  order  of 
self-governing  communities,  but  crossing  great  prairies,  immense 
mountain-ranges,  vast  territories,  in  which  the  only  guardian  of  cir- 
culation and  protection  of  property  is  the  Federal  Government.  And 
while  the  committee  feel  too  profound  a  reverence  for  the  Constitu- 
tion to  tolerate  any  trifling  with  its  positive  and  salutary  provisions, 
they  feel,  to  use  the  emphatic  language  of  one  of  the  greatest  states- 
men of  the  South,  Mr.  Hunter,  of  Virgiaia,  who  has  proved  his  faith 
by  the  uncomplaining  sacrifice  of  a  great  future,  that  "  To  prevent 
so  grand  an  achievement  by  interposing  objections,  claimed  by  an 
extreme  extension  of  the  State-rights  doctrine  where  there  is  neither 
use  nor  necessity  for  it,  is  only  to  bring  into  odium  and  ridicule  those 
grand  old  bulwarks  of  human  liberty,  those  prime  defenses  of  Ameri- 
can harmony  and  progress ;"  that,  "  we  weaken  them  by  attempting  to 
stretch  them  to  cases  which  they  do  not  cover  in  right  reason,  and 


25 

where  the  obtrusion  of  such  considerations  can  onlj-  seem  to  shock 
the  common  sense  of  mankind." 

THE  GOVERNMENT  SECURED  AGAINST  LOSS. 

Bat  the  committee  are  fully  of  opinion  that  all  such  aid  should  be 
rendered  on  such  conditions  as  will  guarantee  the  Goverment  against 
sacrifice  and  protect  the  people  against  the  selfish  exercise  of  the 
privileges  and  power  which  such  aid  confers. 

The  committee  think  that  the  provisions  of  this  bill  secure  this 
end.  The  guarantee  asked  is'the  guarantee  only  of  the  interest  upon 
the  company's  own  bonds,  which  secures  the  bond  against  the  fluctua- 
tions in  value  of  such  security. 

THE  LINE  OF  ROUTE. 

Since  the  reference  to  the  committee  of  the  various  bills  on  this 
subject  introduced  at  the  last  session,  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway 
Company  has  completed  its  road  from  Marshall,  Texas,  to  Fort 
Worth,  in  that  State,  on  the  trunk  line,  completing  it  also  from  Tex- 
arkana  to  Sherman  on  the  transcontinental  line,  making  in  all  about 
four  hundred  and  forty-five  miles  finished,  equipped,  and  operating. 

The  bill,  therefore,  as  now  reported,  provides  for  the  construction 
of  a  railway  line  from  Fort  Worth  to  San  Diego  on  the  Pacific  coast ; 
authorizing  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway  Company  to  construct  a 
road  from  Fort  Worth  to  the  Rio  Grande  near  El  Paso ;  thence  west- 
wardly  one  hundred  miles  into  New  Mexico  until  it  forms  a  junction 
with  the  line  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Company,  which  is  by  the  act 
given  a  like  authority  to  build  a  road  from  San  Diego,  connecting 
with  its  line  at  San  Gorgonio  Pass ;  thence  to  or  near  Fort  Yuma  on 
the  Colorado  River  ;  thence  eastwardly  along  the  thirty-second  par- 
allel of  north  latitude  until  it  meets  with  the  line  of  the  Texas  and 
Pacific  Railway  Company  at  the  designated  point  of  junctions. 

It  also  provides  for  the  construction  of  lines  of  railway  from  the 
main  trunk  to  Saint  Louis,  New  Orleans,  Vicksburgh,  and  Memphis. 
To  secure  the  connection  with  Saint  Louis,  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
Railroad  Company  is  authorized  to  construct  a  line  from  its  present 
terminus,  at  Vinita,  Indian  Territory,  southwestwardly,  so  as  to  in- 
tersect with  the  main  trunk  at  a  point  between  the  ninty-ninth  and 
one  hundredth  degree  of  longitude,  upon  the  condition  that  that  com- 
pany renounces  its  right  under  its  former  charter  to  build  to  the  Pa- 
cific Ocean,  and  to  surrender  to  the  Government  the  33,000,000tof  acres 
of  land  granted  therein,  and  to  release  the  Government  from  its  obli- 
gation to  extinguish  the  Indian  title  to  any  lands  voluntarily  granted 
to  it  by  the  Indians. 

TERMS  AND  CONDITIONS  ON  WHICH  THE  PROPOSED  AID  IS  GRANTED. 

The  bill  requires  that  the  road  shall  be  built  in  sections  of  ten  con- 
secutive miles :  that  commissioners  appointed  by  the  President  shall 
inspect  the  road  as  it  is  built,  and  upon  the  certificate  that  such  sec- 
tion is  completed  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  law  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  shall  deliver  to  the  company  its  own  bonds, 
not  exceeding  $35,000  per  mile  for  the  main  trunk  and  $25,000  for  the 
branches,  and  $30,000  on  the  San  Diego  connection.  If,  however,  a 
less  number  of  bonds  be  found,  upon  examination,  to  be  sufficient  to 
meet  the  cost  of  construction  and  equipment,  then  the  number  of 
bonds  delivered  to  be  correspondingly  reduced.  Upon  these  bonds 
so  delivered  the  Government  indorses  its  guarantee  to  pay  the  interest, 
at  5  per  cent.,  in  case  the  company  should  fail  to  do  so.  The  guarantee 
of  the  Government  therefore  cannot,  on  any  part  of  the  road,  exceed 


26 

$1,750  per  mile,  nor  $17,500  for  any  section  of  ten  miles.  The  security 
which  the  bill  provides  against  loss  upon  this  guarantee  of  5  per 
cent,  is — 

First.  A  mortgage,  paramount  to  all  other  liens,  upon  the  road,  its 
equipments,  net  earnings,  and  proceeds  of  sales  of  the  lands  of  the 
company. 

Second.  The  application  to  the  payment  of  this  interest  of  amounts 
due  from  the  Government  for  postal  and  Army  transportation  and 
telegraphic  facilities. 

Third.  The  retention  of  $5,000  per  mile  in  any  event,  and  more  if 
the  road  cost  less  than  the  average  specified,  of  the  guaranteed  bonds, 
with  the  right  to  sell  and  use  the  proceeds  in  making  up  the  deficiency 
of  the  payment  guaranteed,  should  such  deficiency  exist. 

Fourth.  The  payment  into  the  Treasury  of  so  much  of  the  net 
earnings  of  the  road  as  will  be  sufficient  to  meet  the  interest  required. 

The  trunk  line  upon  which  guaranteed  bonds  are  to  be  issued  is — 

Miles. 

Mainline,  from  Fort  Worth  to  Foit  Yamu 1,187 

San  Diego  connection,  from  San  Gorgonio 1 100 

Eastern  connections : 

Vinitato  the  Texas  and  Pacific 325 

Shreveport  and  Vicksburgh  extension  to  Monroe 96 

Marshall  to  New  Orleans 337 

Jefferson  to  Memphis 260 

Total  trunk  line 1,187 

San  Diego  extension 100 

Eastern  connections 1,  018 

THE  SECURITY  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT  AMPLE  AND  COMPLETE. 

Assuming  the  maximum  amount  of  bonds  which  can  be  used  for  con- 
struction, we  have,  on  the  trunk  line  from  Fort  Worth  to  Fort  Yuma, 
1,187  miles ;  at  $35,000  per  mile  we  have  $41,545,000  with  the  annual 
interest  on  the  same  of  $2,077,250. 

On  100  miles  for  San  Diego  connection,  at  $30,000  per  mile,  we  have 
a  total  issue  of  $3,000,000,  with  an  annual  interest  of  $150,000. 

On  the  eastern  connections,  including  the  Vinita,  New  Orleans, 
Vicksburgh,  and  Memphis  connections,  we  have  a  total  distance  of 
1,018  miles,  at  $25,000  per  mile,  with  the  total  issue  of  bonds  to  the 
amount  of  $25,450,000,  at  an  annual  interest  of  $1,272,500. 

Total  of  bonds  that  can  be  issued  for  construction  under  the  pro- 
visions of  this  bill,  $69,995,000,  with  a  total  annual  interest  of 
$3,499,750. 

This  liability  of  $3,499,750  of  annual  interest,  we  repeat,  is  pro- 
tected, under  the  provisions  of  the  bill,  by  a  first  mortgage  upon  all 
the  property  and  net  earnings  of  2,305  miles  of  road,  so  that  an  earn- 
ing of  $1,750  on  the  trunk  or  main  line,  and  $1,500  per  mile  on  the 
short  San  Diego  connection  of  100  miles,  and  $1,250  per  mile  on  the 
eastern  connections,  will  more  than  amply  secure  the  Government. 

Certainly  a  mortgage  on  property  worth  $40,000  per  mile  at  an 
original  cost  to  secure  a  liability  of  $2,000  per  mile,  will  place  the 
security  of  the  mortgagee  beyond  any  conceivable  contingency. 

Besides  this,  the  Government  reserves  all  the  earnings  from  its  own 
transportation,  mails,  and  telegraph  service,  and  receives  the  proceeds 
of  all  the  United  States  and  State  lands  granted  in  aid  of  the  con- 
struction of  the  line,  as  follows : 

Acres. 

"United  States  land  grants,  west  of  El  Paso 16,640,000 

Texas  grants,  east  of  El  Paso  to  Fort  Worth 7,680,000 

Grants  in  Louisiana,  approximately 2,490,000 


27 

This  calculation,  it  will  be  observed,  is  based  ou  the  aggregate 
amount  of  bonds  that  can  be  issued  for  construction  under  the  bill ; 
but  it  is  believed  that  the  roads  can  and  will  be  constructed  and 
equipped  for  a  sum  of  money  greatly  below  this  estimate,  thus  re- 
ducing the  amount  of  the  guaranteed  bonds  that  will  be  issued,  and 
consequently  the  annual  interest  charge  very  materially,  probably  20  to 
25  per  cent,  below  the  figures  given.  When  it  is  considered  that  the 
Union  and  Central  Pacific  roads,  by  their  last  annual  reports,  July  1, 
1876,  show  gross  earnings  of  $12,910  per  mile,  with  gross  expenses  of 
operating  of  $5,520  per  mile,  leaving  average  net  earnings  of  $7,388 
per  mile,  or  more  that  three  times  the  amount  of  net  earnings  re- 
quired on  the  main  line,  four  times  the  amount  on  the  San  Diego  line, 
and  five  times  as  much  as  on  the  branches,  to  pay  the  interest  on  the 
amount  of  bonds  proposed  to  be  issued  by  the  roads  to  be  aided  under 
this  bill,  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  the  earnings  of  the 
lines  under  discussion  will  greatly  exceed  the  sum  needed  to  meet 
the  liability  of  the  Government  by  the  proposed  guarantee  of  inter- 
est, and  that  there  will  never  be  required  from  the  Treasury  of  the 
United  States  the  advance  of  a  dollar  of  the  money  of  the  people. 

In  addition  to  this  security  the  Government  will  retain  in  its  vaults 
$5,000  per  mile  of  the  bonds  of  the  companies,  or  $12,000,000  in  all, 
as  a  contingent  fund,  with  the  full  power  in  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  to  sell  any  portion  of  the  same  at  the  expense  of  the  com- 
panies, to  meet  any  possible  liabilities  during  construction  or  other- 
wise. 

It  is  believed,  too,  that  the  reserve  will  be  greatly  increased  by  rea- 
son of  the  reduced  cost  of  constructing  and  equipping  the  lines, 
through  the  ability  of  the  company  to  secure  capital  on  a  cash  basis, 
and  the  diminished  cost  of  labor  and  material. 

It  appears  to  the  committee  that  if  ever  a  guarantee  was  protected 
by  the  provisions  under  which  it  was  given,  this  is. 

THE  INTERESTS  OF  THE  PEOPLE  PROTECTED  AGAINST  COMBINATION  OU  MONOPOLY. 

As  to  the  interests  of  the  people,  it  will  be  observed  that  the  bill 
makes  it  impossible  for  the  trunk  line  to  become  a  monopoly  strong 
enough  to  sacrifice  local  interests,  for  ev  ery  local  connection  has  the 
right,  under  the  provisions  of  the  bill,  to  use  the  trunk  line  as  if  it 
were  in  fact  a  part  of  it,  and  this  right  is  capable  of  legal  enforce- 
ment. It  will  be  further  observed  that  the  bill  provides  for  control 
by  Congress  over  the  rates  for  transportation  of  freight  and  passen- 
gers, and  for  postal  and  telegraphic  service.  Whether  this  control 
should  be  absolute  or  limited  by  the  phrase  "under  general  laws  ap- 

Elicable  alike  to  railroads  aided  by  the  Government  of  the  United 
tates,"  was  a  question  gravely  considered  by  the  committee.  With- 
out special  and  unfavorable  reference  to  other  and  previous  legisla- 
tion, it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee  this 
limitation  seemed  rather  a  confirmation  and  extension  to  this  road  of 
privileges  and  franchises  hitherto  unwisely  conferred,  than  a  clear 
declaration  of  power  on  the  part  of  Congress,  which  ought  to  be  care- 
fully and  judiciously  exercised,  but  the  right  to  exercise  which  ought 
neither  to  be  doubted  nor  crippled.  The  committee  felt  that  the  sub- 
ject was  a  delicate  and  difficult  one.  They  felt  on  the  one  hand  that 
a  great  enterprise,  in  which  large  private  fortunes  have  been  risked, 
should  not  be  at  the  mercy  of  congressional  legislation,  affected,  as 
it  must  always  be  in  such  cases,  by  selfish  combination  or  popular  ex- 
citement. But,  on  the  other  hand,  they  could  not  consent  to  leave 
any  such  enterprise,  so  largely  aided  by  the  Government  credit,  and 


28 

so  directly  affecting  great  public  interests,  entirely  free  from  such  con- 
trol. 

If  they  attempted  to  fix  a  rate  of  profit  beyond  which  Congress 
should  have  the  right  to  interfere,  they  would  be  forced  to  come  to 
their  conclusion  on  very  insufficient  information,  and  to  expose  the 
corporation  to  the  temptation  of  coloring  the  reports  of  their  busi- 
ness so  as  to  maintain  the  rate  of  profit  at  a  point  nominally  below 
the  rate  of  interference.  To  leave  the  rate  uncertain  and  require 
simply  a  reasonable  profit,  would  be  to  introduce  subjects  of  very 
difficult  discussion,  and  impose  upon  Congress  the  decision  of  differ- 
ences between  the  corporation  and  the  public,  not  only  very  difficult 
of  decision,  but  open  to  influences  which  it  is  the  great  desire  of  the 
people  to  see  forever  excluded  from  the  National  Legislature.  The 
committee  have  therefore  deemed  it  simplest,  wisest,  and  best  to  rec- 
ognize the  power  which  Congress  unquestionably  possesses,  and  to 
leave  its  exercise  to  the  wisdom  and  patriotism  of  each  succeeding 
Congress  as  the  great  enterprise  develops  healthy  and  beneficial  pro- 
portions. 

SUMMARY  OF  ADVANTAGES  OI^  THE  PROPOSED  ENTERPRISE. 

In  concluding  this  report  the  committee  desires  to  say  that  it  has 
been  adopted  after  the  most  careful  consideration.  The  committee 
could  not  help  feeling  that  legislation  of  this  sort  was  growing  un- 
welcome to  the  popular  sense ;  that  there  was  a  general  conviction 
that  it  was  too  liable  to  be  controlled  by  speculative  and  selfish  in- 
fluences, and  that  in  most  of  it,  however  disguised,  there  lurked  some 
private  advantage  gained  at  the  public  expense.  They  have  scru- 
tinized this  bill  as  thoroughly  and  as  conscientiously  as  their  ability 
permitted,  and  they  are  of  opinion  that  the  scheme  proposed  is  honest 
and  patriotic  in  its  purpose,  and  that  while  from  it,  as  from  every  en- 
terprise of  the  kind  properly  and  economically  completed,  there  must 
result  great  advantage  to  individuals,  yet  that,  in  this  case,  the  pri- 
vate gain  will  not  have  been  made  at  the  public  expense,  and  that 
the  advantages  to  the  Government  and  the  people  are  ample  com- 
pensation for  that  use  of  the  Government's  credit  which  they  advise. 

The  construction  of  this  road  and  the  completion  of  its  branches 
will  bring  the  vast  region  it  traverses — a  region  of  surpassing  rich- 
ness, adapted  to  the  culture  of  the  finest  cotton,  to  the  production  of 
wool,  the  raising  of  cattle,  teeming  with  agricultural  resources,  and 
abounding  in  mineral  wealth — into  connection  with  all  the  great  cities 
on  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  and  also  with  all  the  interior  centers  of  trade 
in  the  West  and  Northwest.  It  will  bring  the  merchants  and  manu- 
facturers of  the  East  into  a  direct,  easy,  and  cheap  communication 
with  the  commerce  of  the  Pacific  coast,  Mexico,  and  Asia,  and  thus 
open  up  to  them  new  and  invaluable  markets  for  the  surplus  products 
of  their  manufacturing  industry  and  skill.  With  its  branch  lines  ex- 
tending to  New  Orleans,  Vicksburgb,  and  Memphis,  and  with  its  con- 
nections with  Galveston,  it  will  not  fail  to  infuse  new  life  and  pros- 
perity in  the  South,  to  develop  its  capital  and  resources,  and  to  give 
to  the  people  of  that  section  the  assurance  that  in  this  great  Union 
their  material  interests  are  considered  and  protected,  and  that  they 
are  to  become  in  future  full  participants  in  its  greatness  and  glory 
and  prosperity. 

This  material  reconstruction,  if  thus  wrought,  will  restore  to  the 
North  her  greatest  and  best  customer  who  will  be  enabled,  by  that 
renewed  interchange  of  those  productions  which  formerly  made  the 
exchange  of  southern  and  northern  trade  the  vital  energy  of  our  na- 
tional prosperity,  to  recommence  a  new  and  prosperous  life — a  life 


29 

produced  by  common  interests,  and  illustrated  by  mutual  respect  and 
affection.  In  the  stimulus,  by  the  exclusive  use  of  American  iron, 
which  it  will  give  to  our  manufacturers ;  in  the  supply  of  work 
and  wages  to  thousands  of  skilled  and  honest  mechanics  and  labor- 
ers who  are  now  in  destitution  and  despair ;  and  in  unlocking  and 
putting  into  active  circulation  millions  of  dollars  now  hoarded  and 
lying  uninvested  in  a  few  money  centers,  it  will  tend  to  relieve 
much  of  the  embarrassment  of  our  financial  affairs,  and  to  restore  our 
agricultural,  manufacturing,  and  commercial  interests  to  their  natural 
condition  of  prosperity.  It  will  effect  a  great  economy  to  the  Gov- 
ernment in  the  transfer  of  its  military  forces,  supplies,  and  mails,  and 
it  is  believed  by  your  committee  that  the  direct  saying  to  the  Govern- 
ment will  exceed  the  annual  gross  amount  of  the  interest  guaranteed 
upon  the  bonds. 

The  advantages  to  the  United  States  in  conducting  the  administra- 
tion of  the  courts  in  the  Territories,  and  the  benefits  that  will  accrue 
from  the  settlement  of  all  matters  relating  to  the  Indian  question, 
and  the  protection  of  life  and  property  on  our  borders,  are  so  great 
that  your  committee  deem  it  only  necessary  to  make  a  brief  allusion 
thereto.  But  your  committee  do  not  dare  to  enter  at  large  upon  the 
advantages  and  importance  of  this  road,  either  sectional  or  national, 
for  in  their  opinion  the  propriety  of  a  complete  system  of  Pacific  con- 
nection, and  the  essential  necessity  of  this  road  as  a  part  of  that  sys- 
tem, have  already  been  decided  by  the  action  of  the  Government, 
and  confirmed  by  the  approval  of  the  people,  and  they  feel  that  in 
recommending  an  adhesion  to  that  policy  they  are  advocating  one  of 
the  simplest  and  yet  surest  means  of  reconciling  the  interests  and  har- 
monizing the  sentiment  of  this  whole  country,  and  thus  advancing 
the  approach  of  that  future  of  universal  peace  and  prosperity  which 
this  people  confidently  anticipate,  even  in  the  midst  of  serious  polit- 
ical perplexity  and  threatened  danger. 


